LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The Covenanters 

IN 

AMERICA: 

THE VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY 

ON 

PRESENT MORAL ISSUES. 
REASONS 

FOR THE 

HOPE AND WORK 

OF THE 

Reformed Presbyterian Church. 

ftp /\BY 

Rev. J. C. M'FEETERS, 

Pastor, Second. R. P. Church, Philadelphia. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
Press of Spangler & Davis. 
1892. 




Copyright, 1892, 

BY 

J. C. McFeeters. 



Walk about Zion, and go round about her : 
Tell the towers thereof. 
Mark ye well her bulwarks; 
Consider her palaces ; 

That ye may tell it to the generation follow- 
ing. 

For this God is our God for ever and ever : 
He will be our guide even unto death. — 
Psalm xlviii: 12-14. R. V. 

" Religion is the whole Bible : sects pick out 
~a part of it. But what whole ? The living 
whole, to be sure — not the dead whole: the 
spirit ; not the letter." 



I venerate the man whose heart is warm, 
whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and 
whose life coincident, exhibit lucid proof that 
lie is honest in the Sacred Cause. — Cowper. 



PREFACE. 



The design of these pages is to give in brief 
manner a clear view of the Covenanter Church, 
a panorama, as it were, of her character, prin- 
ciples and work. 

The principles that distinguish her as a 
denomination, taken from her authoritative 
standards, are spread upon the first pages ; a 
prominent doctrine on one page, and its Scrip- 
tural proof on the opposite, " as in water, face 
answereth to face." Farther along in the vol- 
ume these distinctive truths are illustrated by 
arguments. 

We have endeavored to set forth our beloved 
Zion as a Church complete in her organization, 
in her system of faith, and in her efficiency for 
work, engaged, as she is, in multiplied labors for 
God and the world. 

Her distinctive truths and practices are 

(5) 



6 



PREFACE. 



more conspicuous (perhaps not more import- 
ant) than those she has in common with other 
Churches ; hence the Public, attracted by the 
prominence of these, often loses sight of other 
doctrines and duties which are just as essential 
and as real in the life and character of this 
Church. Thus criticised, the Covenanter 
Church has been regarded by many as notable 
for sharp angles and irregular proportions. 
No greater misconception could enter any 
mind. For this reason, we have not herein 
presented the distinguishing features alone, 
but have endeavored to give a view of 
the Church of the Covenants, as she, clothed 
upon with the whole truth, and strongly girded 
with most solemn bonds for action, is at w r ork 
in many of the fields of Christian effort. She 
is building up congregations through the ser- 
vices of an educated ministry, conducting a 
prosperous School of Divinity, operating a 
growing College, occupying the field of Na- 
tional Reform, laboring in Mission fields at 
home and abroad, besides giving to the cause of 



PREFACE. 



7 



temperance, the Christian Sabbath, and educa- 
tion, men and women who serve with devo- 
tion. 

This volume has been prepared for the ben- 
efit of our children, that when they ask, 
" Why are we Covenanters ?" we can place in 
their hands the reasons collected and arranged 
for a quick and clear understanding. 

It has been prepared for church applicants, 
that when they are comparing the churches, 
with the view of selecting a church home, they 
may be assisted in making their decision with 
intelligence concerning the Covenanter Church. 

It is intended also for any honest inquirer, 
searching after the truth ; and we cherish the 
hope that it may, at least, reflect some of the 
light of " a city set on a hill," to shine upon 
the earnest seeker. 

We will not conceal the fact, that it contains 
also a little of the feeling of fortitude. It is 
our earnest desire to have the great doctrines 
that are the pillars both of Religion and 
Reformation, become more conspicuous in the 



s 



PREFACE. 



sight of the world, and better understood by 
society. We desire to see this household of 
faith " hold fast and hold forth " the complete 
system of Scriptural Doctrine as they under- 
stand it ; this company of believers imbued 
and aflame with the truth as it is in Christ ; 
this band of soldiers still more strongly in- 
trenched in the perpetual covenants ; these 
volunteers of the cross still moving forward 
with unwavering ranks, under the banner 
inscribed with " Christ's Royal Prerogatives/' 7 
being assured of ultimate success. 

We have attempted in these pages no defence 
of the Covenanter Church. We have tried, 
instead, to give a clear and concise presenta- 
tion of her character, position and work. 
Neither she nor her principles need defence. 

" TRUTH FEARS NOTHING BUT CONCEALMENT.'' 

The Covenanter Church seeks not the con- 
cealment of her contested truths, and offers no 
apology for maintaining them. Apologies for 
defects in her life and work may be justly and 



PREFACE. 



9 



frequently due; but none for her faith or her 
Covenants. 

We thankfully acknowledge the assistance 
kindly and abundantly given by a number of 
ministers. They have written largely on some 
of the subjects herein discussed, and from 
their manuscripts we have freely drawn, giv- 
ing the spirit and often the phraseology, so 
that the identity of the writers frequently 
appears. 

With these few pages we have mingled our 
prayers, asking the loving Master that His will 
alone be done, and His name alone be glori- 
fied, in this frail effort. Conscious of its 
defects, we humbly offer the little volume to 
Him and to his Covenant people. If the 
perusal of it shall add in the least measure to 
the joy, the hope and the fortitude of any 
heart, if it shall cast one more gleam of light 
upon the unfurled banner of Christ's Cove- 
nant, causing its motto to be more clearly read 
by the world, if it shall become one slender 
thread in the strong cable of divine and 



10 



PREFACE. 



human appliances, by which our Lord and 
King holds his Covenanted Church to the 
attainments of the Second Reformation, and to 
the principles that shall eventually give the 
world the Millennium, we shall not feel our 
labor to have been in vain, nor our reward 
small. 

J. C. MTeeters. 
Philadelphia, February 12, 1892. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

THE VOICE OF THE COVENANTEE CHUKCH. 

Page. 

The Covenanters and Their Terms of 
Communion, 16 

The Covenanters and the Voice of 
their Testimony on Present Moral , 
Issues, 20 



PART II. 
A VIEW OP THE COVENANTEE CHUECH. 

Chapter I. 

The Covenanters in History, ... 47 

Chapter II. 
The Covenanters in America, ... 57 

Chapter III. 
The Covenanters and Their System 

of Faith, 67 

(ii) 



12 CONTENTS. 

Page. 



Chapter IV. 
The Covenanters and Christ's Royal 
Authority, 77 

Chapter V. 
The Covenanters and Public Social 
Covenanting, 85 

Chapter VI. 
The Covenanters and the Perpetual 
Obligation of Covenants, .... 93 



Chapter VII. 
The American Covenant, 101 

Chapter VIII. 
The Covenanters and Testimony- 



Bearing, Ill 

Chapter IX. 
The Covenanters and Political Dis- 
sent, 121 



CONTENTS. 13 

Page. 

Chapter X. 

The Covenanters and Divine Psalm- 
ody, 131 

Chapter XI. 
The Covenanters and Secret Orders, 139 

Chapter XII. 
The Covenanters and Temperance, . 147 

Chapter XIII. 
The Covenanters and Church Union, 155 

Chapter XIV. 

The Covenanters and the Christian 
Sabbath, 163 

Chapter XV. 

The Covenanters and National Re- 
form, 175 



14 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Chapter XVI. 
The Covenanters and Gospel Mis- 



sions, . 183 

Chapter XVII. 

The Covenanters and Evangelistic 
Work, 191 

Chapter XVIII. 

The Covenanters and Systematic 
Beneficence, . 197 

Chapter XIX. 

The Covenanters and their Educa- 
tional Institutions, 209 

Chapter XX. 

The Covenanters and their Organ- 
ized Strength, 215 

Chapter XXI. 
The Call of Duty, 223 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 15 



Part I. 

THE VOICE OF THE COVENANTER 
CHURCH. 

"Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that 
hate thee : 

Corruption wins not more than honesty. 
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and 
fear not. 

Let all the ends thou aim'st at be 
Thy God's and Truth's; then, when thou 
fall'st, 

Thou fall'st a blessed martyr." 

We are tied by Covenants to religion and 
reformation. Those that were then unborn 
are yet engaged ; and it passeth the power of 
all the magistrates under Heaven to absolve 
from the oath of God. — Argyle. 



Behold, I come quickly ; hold that fast which 
thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 

Revelation hi : 11. 



16 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 



THE COVENANTERS AND THEIR 
TERMS OF COMMUNION. 

The end of church-fellowship is to exhibit a 
system of sound principles, to maintain the 
ordinances of Gospel worship in their purity, 
to promote holiness, and to prepare the saints 
for Heaven. 

The Christian Church, as a society of rational 
beings, must have explicit terms of communion, 
to which e\ r ery member gives his assent. It is 
not to be expected that all men shall think 
alike about every object of thought ; but Chris- 
tians cannot co-operate, unless they are of one 
mind, about the general principles of Chris- 
tianity. Terms of Christian communion should 
embrace nothing but what is Divine truth, and 
reject nothing for which the Church hath 
faithfully contended. — Reformed Presby- 
terian Testimony. 

And as they went through the cities, they 
delivered them the decrees for to keep, that 
were ordained of the apostles and elders, which 
were at Jerusalem. — The Acts xvi : 4. 

Nevertheless, whereto we have already at- 
tained, let us walk by the same rule, let us 
mind the same thing. — Philippians hi : 16. 



Terms of Ecclesiastical Communion 

IN THE 

Reformed Presbyterian Church 

IN 

North America. 



1. An acknowledgment of the Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of 
God, and the only rule of faith and manners. 

2. An acknowledgment that the whole doc- 
trine of the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
and the Catechisms, Larger and Shorter, are 
agreeable unto, and founded upon, the Scrip- 
tures. 

3. An acknowledgment of the Divine right 
of one unalterable form of Church Govern- 
ment and manner of worship ; and that these 
are, for substance, justly exhibited in that form 
of Church Government, and Directory for Wor- 
ship agreed upon by the assembly of divines 
at Westminster, as they were received by the 
Church of Scotland. 

(17) 



18 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 

4. An acknowledgment of public covenant- 
ing as an ordinance of God to be observed by 
churches and nations; and of the perpetual 
obligation of public covenants; and of the 
obligation upon this Church of the Covenant 
entered into in 1871, in which are embodied 
the engagements of the National Covenant of 
Scotland, and of the Solemn League and Cov- 
enant, so far as applicable in this land. 

5. An approbation of the faithful contend- 
ings of the martyrs of Jesus, and of the present 
Reformed Covenanted Churches in Britain 
and Ireland, against Paganism, Popery, and 
Prelacy, and against immoral constitutions of 
civil government, together with all Erastian 
tolerations and persecutions which flow there- 
from, as containing a noble example for us and 
our posterity to follow in contending for all 
divine truth, and in testifying against all con- 
trary evils which may exist in the corrupt con- 
stitutions of either Church or State. 

6. An approbation of the doctrines con- 
tained in the Declaration and Testimony of 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 19 

the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North 
America, in defence of truth, and in opposition 
to error. 

These, together with due subordination in 
the Lord, to the authority of the Synod of 
the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North 
America, and a regular life and conversation, 
form the bonds of our ecclesiastical union. 



20 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



The Voice of the Testimony of 
the Covenanters on Pres- 
ent Moral Issues. 



THE SYSTEM OF FAITH. 
After careful examination, having embraced 
the system of faith, order and worship revealed 
in the Holy Scriptures, and summarized, as to 
doctrine, in the Westminster Confession and 
Catechisms, and Reformed Presbyterian Testi- 
mony, and, as to order and worship, justly set 
forth in substance and outline in the Westmin- 
ster Form of Church Government and Direc- 
tory for Worship, we do publicly profess and 
own this as the true Christian Faith and Re- 
ligion, and the system of order and worship 
appointed by Christ for his own House, and, 
by the grace of God, we will sincerely and con- 
stantly endeavor to understand it more fully, 
to hold and observe it in its integrity, and to 
transmit the knowledge of the same to pos- 
terity. — Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 21 



There be some that trouble you, and would 
pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, 
or an angel from heaven, preach any other 
gospel unto you than that which we have 
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As 
we said before, so say I now again, if any man 
preach any other gospel unto you than that ye 
have received, let him be accursed. — Gala- 
tians i : 7-9. 

Other foundation can no man lay than that 
is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man 
build upon this foundation gold, silver, pre- 
cious stones, wood, hay, stubble ; every man's 
work shall be made manifest ; for the day shall 
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; 
and the fire shall try every man's work of what 
sort it is. — I Corinthians hi : 11-13. 

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these 
least commandments, and shall teach men so, 
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of 
heaven: But whosoever shall do and teach 
them, the same shall be called great in the 
kingdom of heaven. — Matthew v : 19. 



22 



THE COVENANTEES AND THE 



CHRIST'S ROYAL AUTHORITY. 

The Mediator, having voluntarily humbled 
Himself in human nature, for our redemption, 
is appointed to the highest power and glory ; 
and in his exalted state He rules in and over 
all his children, as their living Head and Law- 
giver, and governs all creatures and all their 
actions for his own glory and our salvation, 
as " Head over all things to the Church, which 
is His body." 

Submission is due to the Mediatory author- 
ity, from all the intelligent creatures of God. 
Men, not only as saints and church members, 
but also in every possible relation and condi- 
tion, are under obligation to subserve his gra- 
cious purposes according to his law. The 
holy angels minister, under his directions, to 
the heirs of salvation. — Reformed Presbyter- 
ian Testimony. 



VOICE OF THEIR, TESTIMONY. 23 



He humbled himself, and became obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross. 
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, 
and given him a name which is above every 
name : that at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow, of things in heaven, and things 
in earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Phil- 
ippians ii : 8-11. 

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing. And 
every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say- 
ing, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb forever and ever. — Revelation 
v: 12-13. 

And he hath on his vesture and on his 
thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, 
and LORD OF LORDS.— Revelation xix : 16. 



24 



THE COVENANTEES AND THE 



PUBLIC SOCIAL COVENANTING. 
A voWj or religious covenant, is of the like 
nature with a promissory oath, whereby we 
bind ourselves, either individually or col- 
lectively, to necessary duties, or to other 
things not forbidden, so far and so long as they 
conduce thereunto. It is an ordinance of God, 
which is to be attended to on special occasions 
under the New Testament Dispensation, as well 
as under the Old, by individuals and societies, 
by churches and nations. — Reformed Presby- 
terian Testimony. 

We, Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and Mem- 
bers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
in North America, with our hands lifted up, 
do jointly and severally swear by the Great 
and Dreadful Name of the Lord our God: 
That coming into the presence of the Lord God 
with a deep conviction of his awful majesty 
and glory, * * we receive for ourselves and 
for our children, the Lord Jesus Christ, as He 
is offered in the Gospel to be our Saviour. — 
Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 25 



That thou shouldest enter into covenant with 
the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which 
the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day ; 
that he may establish thee to-day for a people 
unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a 
God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath 
sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, 
and to Jacob. Neither with you only do I 
make this covenant and this oath ; but with 
him that standeth here With us this day before 
the Lord our God, and also with him that is 
not here with us this day. — Deuteronomy 
xxix : 12-15. 

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace 
with them ; it shall be an everlasting covenant 
with them : and I will place them, and multi- 
ply them, and will set my sanctuary in the 
midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle 
also shall be with them : yea, I will be their 
God, and they shall be my people. — Ezekiel 
xxxvii : 26-27. 



26 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



THE PERPETUAL OBLIGATION OF 
COVENANTS. 

Covenants entered into by an individual or 
a community, continue binding upon those 
who enter into them, either personally or by 
their representatives, so long as such persons 
live, unless the covenants have limited their 
own duration to a certain other period. The 
covenant obligation is admitted and sanctioned 
by God, as distinct from any previous obliga- 
tion arising from the Divine law ; but no vow 
or covenant of man can bind to any thing con- 
trary to the law of God. — Reformed Presby- 
terian Testimony. 

An acknowledgment of public covenanting 
as an ordinance of God to be observed by 
churches and nations; and of the perpetual 
obligation of public covenants ; and of the 
obligation upon this Church of the Covenant 
entered into in 1871, in which are embodied 
the engagements of the National Covenant of 
Scotland, and of the Solemn League and Cove- 
nant, so far as applicable in this land. — Fourth 
Term of Communion. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



27 



And I will make an everlasting covenant 
with them, that I will not turn away from 
them, to do them good ; but I will put my fear 
in their hearts, that they shall not depart from 
me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them 
good, and I will plant them in this land assur- 
edly with my whole heart, and with my whole 
soul. — Jeremiah xxxii : 40-41. 

Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord 
in a perpetual covenant that shall not be for- 
gotten. — Jeremiah l : 5. 

This is the covenant that I will make with 
them after those days, saith the Lord ; I will 
put my laws into their hearts, and in their 
minds will I write them ; and their sins and 
iniquities will I remember no more. — Hebrews 
x: 16-17. 



28 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 

Committing ourselves with all our interests 
to the keeping of Him in whom we have be- 
lieved ; in faithfulness to our own vows, and to 
the Covenants of our Fathers, and to our chil- 
dren whom we desire to lead in the right ways 
-of the Lord ; in love to all mankind, especially 
the household of faith ; in obedience to the 
commandment of the everlasting God, to " con- 
tend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
the saints," we will bear true testimony in 
word and in deed for every known part of 
divine truth, and for all the ordinances ap- 
pointed by Christ in his kingdom ; and we 
will tenderly and charitably, yet plainly and 
decidedly, oppose and discountenance all and 
every known error, immorality, neglect or 
perversion of divine institutions. — Covenant 
of 1871. 

The Church may not recede from a more 
clear and particular testimony to a more gen- 
eral and evasive one ; but the witnesses must 
proceed in finishing their testimony, rendering 
it more pointed and complete, until God shall, 
according to His promise, overthrow the em- 
pire of darkness, and introduce the Millennial 
state, in which " the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea." — Reformed Presbyterian Testimony. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



29 



Ye are the light of the world. A city that is 
set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men 
light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but 
on a candlestick ; and it giveth light unto all 
that are in the house. Let your light so shine 
before men, that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — 
Matthew v : 14-16. 

Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of 
his might. Put on the whole armor of God, 
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles 
of the devil. For w^e wrestle not against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities, against 
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high 
places. — Ephesians vi : 10-12. 

Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed 
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let 
us lay aside every weight, and the sin which 
doth so easily beset us, and let us run with 
patience the race that is set before us, looking 
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
faith ; who, for the joy that was set before him, 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is 
set down at the right hand of the throne of 
God. — Hebrews xii : 1-3. 



30 THE COVENANTEES AND THE 

POLITICAL DISSENT. 

We take ourselves sacredly bound to regu- 
late all our civil relations, attachments, profes- 
sions and deportment, by our allegiance and 
loyalty to the Lord, our King, Lawgiver, and 
Judge ; and by this our oath, we are pledged 
to promote the interests of public order and 
justice, to support cheerfully whatever is for 
the good of the commonwealth in which we 
dwell, and to pursue this object in all things 
not forbidden by the law of God, or inconsis- 
tent with public dissent from an unscriptural 
and immoral civil power. 

We will pray and labor for the peace and 
welfare of our country, and for its reformation 
by a constitutional recognition of God as the 
source of all power, of Jesus Christ as the Ruler 
of nations, of the Holy Scriptures as the 
supreme rule, and of the true Christian Reli- 
gion ; and we will continue to refuse to incor- 
porate by any act, with the political body, until 
this blessed reformation has been secured. — 
Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



31 



Be ye not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers : for what fellowship hath right- 
eousness with unrighteousness? and what 
communion hath light with darkness? and 
what concord hath Christ with Belial? or 
what part hath he that believeth with an 
infidel? 

Wherefore come out from among them, and 
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
the unclean thing ; and I will receive you, 
and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall 
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty. — II Corinthians vi : 14-15, 17-18. 

Let us go forth therefore unto him without 
the camp, bearing his reproach. — Hebrews 
xiii : 13. 

These are they which follow the Lamb 
whithersoever he goeth. — Revelation xiv : 4. 

He that denieth me before men shall be 
denied before the angels of God. — Luke xii : 9. 



32 THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



SECRET ORDERS. 

Christians should walk in the light. Their 
doctrines, their purposes, and manner of life, 
their rules of action and conduct, should not 
be concealed. The formation of secret associ- 
ations for the prosecution of ends, however good 
professedly, is inconsistent with the require- 
ments of Christian principle. — Reformed Pres- 
byterian Testimony. 

We reject all systems of false religion and 
will-worship, and with these all forms of secret 
oath-bound societies and orders, as ensnaring 
in their nature, pernicious in their tendency, 
and perilous to the liberties of both Church and 
State. — Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 33 



And have no fellowship with the unfruitful 
works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 
For it is a shame even to speak of those things 
which are done of them in secret. But all 
things that are reproved are made manifest by 
the light ; for whatsoever doth make manifest 
is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake, thou 
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and 
Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye 
w^alk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 
— Ephesians v : 11-16. 

For every one that doeth evil Jiateth the 
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds 
should be reproved. But he that doeth truth 
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be 
made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 
—John hi: 20-21. 

For there is nothing covered that shall not be 
revealed ; neither hid, that shall not be known. 
Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in dark- 
ness shall be heard in the light; and that 
which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, 
shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. — Luke 
xii : 2-3. 



34 THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



DIVINE PSALMODY. 

Singing God's praise is a part of public 
social worship, in which the whole congrega- 
tion should join. The book of Psalms which 
are of divine inspiration, is well adapted to 
the state of the Church, and of every member, 
in all ages and circumstances; and these 
Psalms, to the exclusion of all imitations and 
uninspired compositions, are to be used in 
social worship. — Reformed Presbyterian 
Testimony. 

The singing of psalms with grace in the 
heart is a part of the ordinary religious wor- 
ship of God. — Confession of Faith. 

It is the duty of Christians to praise God 
publicly, by singing of psalms together in the 
congregation, and also privately in the family. 
— Westminster Directory. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



35 



0 come, let us sing unto the Lord ; let us 
make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salva- 
tion. Let us come before his presence with 
thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto 
him with psalms. — Psalm xcv : 1-2. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly 
in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one 
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the 
Lord. — Colossians in : 16. 

Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice ; with 
the voice together shall they sing: for they 
shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring 
again Zion. — Isaiah lii ; 8. 

Is any among you afflicted ? Let him pray. 
Is any merry ? Let him sing psalms. — James 
v: 13. 



3G 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



TEMPERANCE. 

Mutual help in a holy life and maintenance 
of the truth, being one design of church fellow- 
ship ; that individuals may be saved from the 
ruin wrought by intemperance, and that a 
testimony may be borne against this sin, and 
against the temptations thereto, the followers 
of Christ should totally abstain from the manu- 
facture, sale and use of intoxicants as a beve- 
rage. — Reformed Presbyterian Testimony. 

We do solemnly promise to depart from all 
iniquity, and to live soberly, righteously, and 
godly in this present world, commending and 
encouraging, by our example, temperance, 
charity and godliness. — Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 37 

"Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who 
hath contentions ? Who hath babbling? Who 
hath wounds without cause? Who hath red- 
ness of eyes ? They that tarry long at the wine ; 
they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not 
thou upon the wine when it is red, when it 
giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth 
itself aright. At last it biteth like a serpent, 
and stingeth like an adder. — Proverbs xxiii : 
29-32. 

Woe unto them that rise up early in the 
morning, that they may follow strong drink ; 
that continue until night, till wine inflame 
them! and the harp and the viol, the tabret 
and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but 
they regard not the work of the Lord, neither 
consider the operation of his hands. — Isaiah 
v: 11-12. 

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation 
hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that 
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we 
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in 
this present world ; looking for that blessed 
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great 
God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. — Titus ii : 
11-13. 



38 THE COVENANTEES AND THE 



CHURCH UNION. 

Believing the Church to be one, and that all 
the saints have communion with God and with 
one another in the same Covenant ; believing 
moreover, that schism and sectarianism are 
sinful in themselves, and inimical to true reli- 
gion, and trusting that divisions shall cease, 
and the people of God become one Catholic 
Church over all the earth, we will pray and 
labor for the visible oneness of the Church of 
God in our own land and throughout the 
world, on the basis of truth and of Scriptural 
order. Considering it a principal duty of our 
profession to cultivate a holy brotherhood, we 
will strive to maintain Christian friendship 
with pious men of every name, and to feel and 
act as one with all in every land w^ho pursue 
this grand end. And, as a means of securing 
this great result, we will by dissemination and 
application of the principles of truth herein 
professed, and by cultivating and exercising 
Christian charity, labor to remove stumbling 
blocks, and to gather into one the scattered and 
divided friends of truth and righteousness. — 
Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 39 

That they all may be one ; as thou, Father , 
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
one in us : that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou 
gavest me I have given them ; that they may 
be one, even as we are one : I in them, and 
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in 
one ; and that the world may know that thou 
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou 
hast loved me. — John xvii : 21-23. 

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not 
comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with 
fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sap- 
phires. And I will make thy windows of 
agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy 
borders of pleasant stones. And all thy chil- 
dren shall be taught of the Lord ; and great 
shall be the peace of thy children. In right- 
eousness shalt thou be established. — Isaiah 
liv: 11-14. 

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto 
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature 
of the fulness of Christ : that we henceforth be 
no more children, tossed to and fro, and car- 
ried about with every wind of doctrine. — 
Ephesians iv : 13-14. 



40 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

This Sabbath is then kept hoty unto the 
Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their 
hearts and ordering of their common affairs 
beforehand, do not only observe a holy rest all 
the day from their own works, words, and 
thoughts, about their worldly employments 
and recreations, but also are taken up the 
whole time in public and private exercises of 
his worship, and in the duties of necessity and 
mercy. — Confession of Faith. 

The Lord of life and time hath set apart one 
seventh part of time, from the common work 
of life, to be employed exclusively in the pub- 
lic and private exercises of God's worship, ex- 
cept so much of it as may be taken up in the 
works of necessity and mercy ; and since the 
resurrection of Christ, the first day of the week, 
comprehending twenty -four hours, from mid- 
night to midnight, is the weekly Sabbath. — 
Reformed Presbyterian Testimony. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



41 



Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall keep : for it is 
a sign between me and you throughout your 
generations; that ye may know that I am 
the Lord that doth sanctify you. — Exodus 
xxxi : 13. 

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, 
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day ; and 
call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the 
Lord, honorable ; and shalt honor him, not 
doing thine own w^ays, nor finding thine own 
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words : then 
shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord ; and I 
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of 
the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of 
Jacob thy father ; for the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it. — Isaiah lviii : 13-14. 

Think not that I am come to destroy the 
law or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, 
but to fulfil. For verily, I say unto you, Till 
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall 
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
— Matthew v : 17-18. 

There remaineth therefore a rest (a keeping 
of Sabbath) to the people of God. — Hebrews 
iv : 9. 



42 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



NATIONAL REFORM. 

Christians testifying against national evils, 
and striving in the use of moral means to effect 
a reformation, should relinquish temporal 
privileges, rather than do anything which may 
appear to contradict their testimony, or lay a 
stumbling-block before their weaker breth- 
ren. — Reformed Presbyterian Testimony. 

Persuaded that God is the source of all legi- 
timate power ; that He has instituted civil gov- 
ernment for his own glory and the good of 
man ; that He has appointed his Son, the Medi- 
ator, to headship over the nations ; and that 
the Bible is the supreme law and rule in na- 
tional as in all other things, we will maintain 
the responsibility of nations to God, the right- 
ful dominion of Jesus Christ over the common- 
wealth, and the obligation of nations to leg- 
islate in conformity with the written "Word. — 
Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



43 



And many people shall go and say, Come 
ye, and let us go np to the mountain of the 
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and 
he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk 
in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the 
law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
And he shall judge among the nations, and 
shall rebuke many people : and they shall beat 
their swords into plough-shares, and their 
spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not 
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they 
learn war any more. — Isaiah 11 : 3-4. 

And they sing the song of Moses the servant 
of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God 
Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou 
King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O 
Lord, and glorify thy name ? For thou art 
holy; for all nations shall come and worship 
before thee ; for thy judgments are made mani- 
fest. — Revelation xv : 3-4. 

And the kingdom and dominion, and the 
greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the 
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an 
everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall 
serve and obey him. — Daniel vii : 27. 



44 THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



GOSPEL MISSIONS. 
Rejoicing that the enthroned Mediator is not 
only King in Zion, but King over all the 
earth, and recognizing the obligation of his 
command to " go into all the world and preach 
the Gospel to every creature/' and to " teach 
all nations, bajDtizing them in the name of the 
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," 
and resting with faith in the promise of his 
perpetual presence as the pledge of success, we 
hereby dedicate ourselves to the work of mak- 
ing known God's Light and Salvation among 
the nations, and to this end will labor that the 
Church may be provided with an earnest, self- 
denying and able ministry. Profoundly con- 
scious of past remissness and neglect, we will 
henceforth, by our prayers, pecuniary contri- 
butions, and personal exertions, seek the revival 
of pure and undefiled religion, the conversion 
of Jews and Gentiles to Christ, that all men 
may be " blessed in Him, and that all nations 
may call Him blessed." — Covenant of 1871. 



VOICE OF THEIR TESTIMONY. 



45 



Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world. Amen. — 
Matthew xxviii : 19-20. 

How then shall they call on him in whom 
they have not believed ? And how shall they 
believe in him of whom they have not heard ? 
And how shall they hear without a preacher ? 
And how shall they preach except they be 
sent ? As it is written, How beautiful are the 
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, 
and bring glad tidings of good things ! — 
Romans x : 14-16. 

And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. 
And let him that heareth say, Come. And let 
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, 
let him take the water of life freely. — Revela- 
tion xxii : 17. 



46 



THE COVENANTERS IX HISTORY. 



Part IL 

A VIEW OF THE COVEXAXTER 
CHURCH. 

Thus saith the Lord ; I remember thee, the 
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espou- 
sals, when thou wentest after me in the wil- 
derness, in a land that was not sown. Israel 
was holiness unto the Lord, and the first fruits 
of his increase. — Jeremiah, ii : 2-3. 

Remember the days of old, consider the 
years of many generations ; ask thy father, 
and he will show thee; thy elders, and they 
will tell thee. When the Most High divided 
to the nations their inheritance, when he sep- 
arated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of 
the people according to the number of the 
children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is 
his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 
— Deuteronomy, xxxii : 7-9. 

"Though in mist, and in darkness, and fire they were 
shrouded, 

Yet the souls of the righteous stood calm and unclouded ; 
Their dark eyes flashed lightning, as proud and unbend- 
ing, 

They stood like the rock which the thunder is rending.' 9 



THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 47 



Chapter I. 
THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 

The Covenanter Church has added a volume 
of history to the world's library which will 
ever be prized, for it has been brightly illum- 
inated with examples of Christian fortitude 
and with the triumphs of faith. The path of 
this Church, through the struggles of the 
Reformation, will be followed with interest 
while the world endures. As Daniel Webster 
said of Massachusetts, so may it be said of the 
Church of the Covenants, — "The past, at 
least, is secure." Her life, her work, her prin- 
ciples, her struggles, her sufferings, her unyield- 
ing spirit and complacent courage and un- 
quenchable hope, inspire all who are thoughtful 
and observing. 

As we view this Church coming through the 
ages, a " Cloud of witnesses" hovers around us ; 
examples of holy bravery multiply in our pres- 
ence ; illustrations of doing, and daring, and 
dying for Christ and his truth, pass before us, 
till the soul is either astir with the same zeal, 
or ashamed of its cowardice. We see men and 
women declare their faith in Jesus, and defend 
their religion with the weapons that are spirit- 
ual, not carnal, while facing banishment, 



48 THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 

imprisonment, torture, and death. Every 
comfort on earth, each tender tie, life's bright- 
est hopes, all are sacrificed rather than mar 
their loyalty to their King Immanuel. 

But where do we find the starting-point of 
Covenanter History ? Asa denomination, this 
Church traces her record to Scotland, the 
country of magnificent sceneries and victories. 
Yet more strictly considered, the beginning is 
not there. In the better and broader sense, 
we go beyond the dawning of Scottish civiliza- 
tion, and outside those picturesque shores, to 
find her origin. We have no difficulty in 
recognizing her identity with the Christian 
Church of the Primitive Ages. The truths pro- 
fessed in Apostolic times, the sincerity and 
simplicity of worship, the holy zeal and mar- 
tyr spirit, all these early traits of Christianity 
are found later in Scotland. Here we discover 
merely a new people, receiving the same 
Gospel, embracing the same principles, con- 
tending for the same faith, animated with the 
same hope of eternal life, the true Church 
taking root in new soil. 

As a distinct denomination she rises into 
view in Scotland. Her very first appearance 
there was in the sacred character of Christ's 



THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 49 

Kingdom, as not " of the world/' but " hated " 
by the world. The foes of truth and liberty 
pressed hard upon her from the moment of 
her entrance. It was a struggle for existence 
from the beginning. In her infancy she was 
rocked in the cradle of persecution. As early 
as 1528, we find the fires kindled, and the 
spirits of the martyrs ascending to Heaven 
through flames. Thirty years later, still har- 
assed and destroyed for their faith, their 
descendants formed a covenant bond, and sub- 
scribed it with a solemn oath, thereby plight- 
ing their love to Christ, and pledging their 
lives to the truth. This is the first act of Pub- 
lic Social Covenanting that became notable in 
that historic land. 

Two years afterward, they renewed their 
oath, subscribing another bond, prepared in 
the same spirit, and embodying the same prin- 
ciples of faith and freedom, but expressed in 
more vigorous and explicit terms, declaring 
their purpose and duty of adhering to the 
true Christian Religion, and defending it 
against all assailants. 

The Church continued to grow. The flames 
were ever swirling around the bush, and 
through its tender branches, yet the bush was 



50 



THE COVEXAXTERS IN HISTORY. 



not consumed. The Church possessed an 
unconquerable spirit; her vitality was inde- 
structible ; her loyalty to Christ was immutable. 
The children of the Covenant multiplied 
in proportion to the severity of the strife 
waged against them. The following genera- 
tion developed into a strong, well-organized 
and influential church, having thirteen pres- 
byteries, and a general assembly. 

In the year 1581, another bond of union and 
defence was adopted and subscribed, called the 
First National Covenant. This was a most 
notable deed. While it was an expansion of 
former bonds, for the use of the entire king- 
dom, it became also the foundation of future 
covenants. It became a source of unity and 
strength to the Church ; yet at the same time 
it was a target for the fire of the enemy. 
Though the Church was for the time exalted, 
she was not secure ; though prosperous, her 
victories were not sealed with enduring peace. 
While the joy of the solemn oath was vibrating 
across the kingdom, a storm was gathering. 
The king made haste to overthrow the liberty 
of the Church ; he employed his power in a 
desperate attempt to bring her under subjec- 
tion to his dictates. A long and terrific strug- 



THE COVENANTEES IN HISTORY. 51 

gle ensued, with alternate crash and calm, till 
1638, when the cause of truth and right won 
another triumph, and the fruits of the triumph 
were garnered by another written bond. This 
was sworn and subscribed with most impressive 
solemnity, and has been known ever since as 
the National Covenant of Scotland, being an 
enlargement of the Covenant of 1581. 

This act of covenanting finds its place 
among the most memorable scenes that illum- 
inate the pages of the Covenanter Church. One 
historian says that this was the time, " when 
men felt the presence of that Dread Majesty, to 
whom they vowed allegiance, and bowed 
their heads before him, in breathless awe of 
spiritual devotion. As if all were moved by 
one spirit, (and doubtless they were moved 
by one Eternal Spirit), with low heart-wrung 
groans, and faces bathed in tears, they lifted 
their right hands to heaven, avowing by this 
sublime appeal, that they had now joined 
themselves to the Lord, in an Everlasting Cov- 
enant that shall not be forgotten." 

This was soon followed by the Solemn 
League and Covenant, uniting the kingdoms 
of Scotland, England, and Ireland in the 
acceptance, enjoyment, and defence, of the 



52 THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 

.Reformed Religion. The Church now seemed 
to have reached a climax of liberty and secur- 
ity ; but her future was soon darkened. The 
forces of cruelty and devastation were again 
hurled against her. The enemy began a war 
of extermination; the king used flattery, de- 
ception, severity, the courts, the prisons, the 
army, every element of arbitrary power he 
could concentrate in his iron sceptre, to erad- 
icate Covenanted Presbyterianism from the 
soil of Scotland. For thirty years the work of 
destruction continued, waxing fiercer and still 
more fierce. The blood of the martyrs flowed 
freely. They were numbered by the thous- 
ands. The faithful fell like the harvest before 
the reaper. At length the triumph of the 
Prince of Orange, in 1688, quenched the con- 
suming fires, and sheathed the dripping sword. 

The first struggle of the Church for exist- 
ence and freedom in Scotland was with Pagan- 
ism, in which the meek and suffering followers 
of Jesus were known simply as Christians. 
The second conflict was with Papacy, in which 
they became known as Protestants. The third 
was with Prelacy, in which they were denom- 
inated Presbyterian^. The last was in defence 
of the Covenants, and the moral and religious 



THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 53 

principles therein declared; and in this conflict 
the defenders were pronounced Covenanters. 
These people were the same in principle, in 
spirit, in purpose, in religion, through all these 
changes, though distinguished by different 
names, along the path of history, according to 
the foe that attempted their suppression. 

During the last persecution the Covenanters 
were greatly wasted and scattered. A merci- 
less army reduced the kingdom. They raided 
the towns and scoured the country ; swooped 
down from the mountains, and swept the beau- 
tiful valleys ; invaded the sacredness of home, 
and spied out the lonely hiding-places. Life 
and property perished at their coming; and 
when the storm was over, the strong leaders 
and mighty veterans of the Church had fallen 
in death. 

Peace came, but a snare lay encoiled in the 
sudden peace. A compromise of truth, in 
which some vital covenanted principles were 
submerged, became the basis of the re-organiza- 
tion of the bleeding Church. Many who had 
braved torture and death yielded to the temp- 
tation. Only three ministers remained con- 
sistent ; and these soon proved unable to 
resist the popular pressure, and disappeared 
within the shadows of the multitude. 



54 THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 



Yet there were a few of " the unconquer- 
able covenanters, who, spurning every weak 
compliance, braving every danger, and sealing 
cheerfully their testimony in defence of 
Christ's Crown and Covenant with their bloody 
remained true to their convictions and their 
oath." These became known as the " Society 
People." The Lord at length gave them pas- 
tors. He revived his covenanted cause, and 
still continues to give this historic people place 
in his providence, and in his service, who, on 
account of maintaining, applying, and defend- 
ing Reformation Principles, are called the 
Reformed Presbyterian Church. 

Thus, the Covenanted Church is found in 
history " coming up from the wilderness, lean- 
ing upon her Beloved." See, " she looks forth 
as the morning," dispelling the shadows of 
darkness from the benighted land, and shed- 
ding light upon many souls, transforming 
their tears into diamonds. She is also " fair 
as the moon," full-orbed in the perfectness of 
her character, modest and beautiful, yet con- 
spicuously moving along the calm, deep firma- 
ment of truth, while many a storm breaks upon 
her face, and, passing on, leaves her brightness 
unchanged. Yea, she is " clear as the sun," 



THE COVENANTERS IN HISTORY. 55 



clothed with light, luminous with inspired 
truth, and glorious with the presence of God, 
giving a day of Reformation to her country, 
which, though darkened by many clouds, has 
never had a sunset. Moreover, she is " terri- 
ble as an army with banners," making kings 
and queens tremble on their thrones by her 
prayers, winning victories by firm and fearless 
declaration of the truth, conquering the foe by 
preaching in the pulpit and by dying on the 
scaffold. Such has been the Covenanted 
Church of the past. Are the Covenanters of 
to-day worthy of their history ? 




56 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 



Thou hast given a banner to them that fear 
thee, 

That it may be displayed because of the 
truth.— Psalm lx : 4. 

The principles which led to the settlement 
of New England, and which pervaded her col- 
onies, and became the only principles on which 
heaven would smile throughout this wide con- 
tinent, are but the principles of the Reforma- 
tion matured and advanced. Those extra- 
ordinary characters, who, for religion's sake, 
braved dangers incredible, endured sacrifices 
that seemed not endurable, and periled all 
things in these western wilds, were Heaven's 
chosen agents, to prepare a new and wider field 
for the display of what Christianity can do to 
bless the world. Europe had been sifted, and 
her finest wheat taken to sow in this American 
soil. — Rev. Hollis Read, D.D. 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 57 



Chapter II. 
THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 

The Covenanter Church in America is not 
the out-growth of individual thought. She 
traces her origin to no man as her founder. 
She has had eminent teachers and illustrious 
defenders, but no earthly father. She depends 
not upon the perpetuity of an earthly creed for 
her existence. She has a deeper and more 
enduring foundation. Her founder is Jesus 
Christ ; her creed is the Word of God, on which 
her subordinate standards are based. She 
claims legitimate connection and personal 
identity with the true Christian Church of all 
ages. 

During the last persecution in Scotland many 
of the best citizens of that country were ban- 
ished to America. Some were transported as 
felons, because they would not violate their 
conscience nor break their vows, by acknowl- 
edging the supremacy of man to be above that 
of God and his Word, in either civil or eccles- 
iastical affairs. Others fled because there was 
no prospect of freedom in their native country 
to worship God, as they had been taught in 
the Holy Scriptures. Others again were 



58 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 



attracted to this great continent in the hope of 
obtaining a livelihood, being impoverished 
through heavy fines and frequent imprison- 
ment by the British Government. They came 
like the Huguenots from France, the Puritans 
from England, and the Presbyterians from Hol- 
land, choosing liberty in a wilderness, rather 
than oppression in their native land. Thus 
the blood of the martyrs became the seed of 
the Church in this country, and the testimony 
of those who survived that crucial trial became 
a heritage of civil and religious liberty to the 
forthcoming nation. 

The Covenanters settled in America chiefly 
for the sake of their religion, yet without pru- 
dent regard to church conveniences. They 
were thinly scattered from Nova Scotia to 
South Carolina, and far into the interior. They 
built their first churches of logs among the 
dense forests. Sometimes the ordinances were 
administered in private dwellings, or in barns. 
Sometimes in the open air, under the spread- 
ing trees, they received the Sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, while the majesty of God seemed 
to pervade the silent woods, and a sense of his 
presence touched the hearts of the worshippers. 

The ministers were few. They labored in- 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 59 

dustriously and with great sacrifice, to gather 
together the scattered families, and organize 
congregations. They rode long distances on 
horseback, often travelling unfrequented roads, 
pursuing mountain paths, crossing bridgeless 
streams ; hungry, weary, drenched, shelterless 
at night, and among wild beasts and w T ilder 
Indians. The pastor of modern years knows 
little of the pains endured by the ministers of 
the former times. The Word was precious in 
those days. Divine services w T ere conducted 
with great simplicity and enjoyed with spirit- 
ual relish. 

The Covenanters took no active part in civil 
affairs in America w T hile the colonies were sub- 
ject to Great Britain. They would not sustain 
the British Government in this land, having 
fled from its central power, to escape its rigors, 
hoping that distance from the throne would 
secure peace and quietness. With manly 
spirit and Christian fortitude they promulgated 
those precious principles of independence, for 
which their brethren had freely offered up 
their lives on the other side of the Atlantic. 

Being led by the Rev. Alexander Craighead, 
at Octorara, Pa., in 1743, they renewed their 
Covenants, planting the Reformation vine in 



60 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 

American soil, with a solemn appeal to God. 
In their bond they not only declared their 
religious convictions, but also their right to 
civil independence; and this, too, thirty-six 
years in advance of the ringing of the Liberty 
Bell of Philadelphia. 

The followers of the same minister, who 
afterwards located in North Corolina, made a 
public demand for national independence 
from Great Britain. They circulated the dar- 
ing document ; it breathed the spirit of the 
early Scottish Covenanter papers. From this 
bold statement of rights and principles, the 
writer of America's Declaration of Independ- 
ence admits that he received aid, and drew 
inspiration. 

During the Revolution they fought on one 
side only. Their Christian training made 
them strong for the right and uncompromising 
with oppression. Their allegiance was given 
to the cause of the colonies ; with strong hearts 
and ready hands they entered the conflict for 
liberty. They trusted that the inestimable 
principles, preserved through the long con- 
flicts of the past, and at the cost of much mar- 
tyr blood, would have been incorporated into 
the life and constitution of the young nation. 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 61 

But, how painful their disappointment, when 
the Federal Constitution was adopted, without 
reference to Divine Providence, or the men- 
tion of God's name in it! What sense of shame 
was theirs when they saw human slavery 
established by law! The only consistent 
course of action was to separate, by dissent, 
from the Government. This they promptly 
and publicly did ; and this they have persist- 
ently and conspicuously continued to do. 
Their reasons were clear. This Government 
was fundamentally defective, in morality and 
religion, in that it made no acknowledgment 
of God, as the source of all power and author- 
ity, and did not administer law according to 
the requirements of his Word. 

From the position of political infidelity the 
United States Government has never departed ; 
and from the position of political dissent 
the Covenanter Church has never receded. 
This little Church has keenly felt the force of 
public pressure, and has sustained many a 
shock, but has not yet been driven from her 
chosen rock. For more than a century she has 
lamented the evils flowing from the Federal 
Constitution, and has testified against them. 
Her sons have willingly sacrificed the privi- 



€2 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 



leges and advantages of suffrage rather than 
implicate themselves in the great wrongs 
against God and man, sanctioned by the 
nation's supreme law. 

This Church has always been small in 
America ; but she is a unit on almost every 
great moral issue. Her position is easily found 
on all questions bearing upon the rights of God 
and man. Her distinctive principles, which 
give her publicity and character, have never 
been popular ; neither indeed can be, till the 
nations shall be converted. She is continually 
heading against adverse winds, yet keeping 
resolutely on her way ; often weakened by defec- 
tion, and desertion, yet is she not faint-hearted. 
Heedless of resistance from without, and deser- 
tion from within, conscious of the immutabil- 
ity of the principles she proclaims to the world, 
assured of the triumph of the cause she has 
long maintained, and persuaded that she car- 
ries her commission from Him whose right to 
rule the nations shall yet be vindicated, she 
moves forward, having her eyes fixed only 
upon her Exalted King. 

In 1688, this Church had only three minis- 
ters, and soon afterwards even these forsook 
her. But the shepherdless flock still associated 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 63 

together and maintained the royal claims of 
Christ. In 1743, a covenant was sworn in 
America, but the leading minister lightly 
esteemed his covenant and withdrew ; yet the 
Church continued firm to her espoused cause. 
In 1782, a number of ministers again aban- 
doned her, but she rode the tumultuous waves 
in safety. In 1798, a presbytery was re-organ- 
ized, which rapidly developed into a synod, to 
be again distracted by division in 1833, when 
about half of the ministers and members 
departed ; yet she survived and quickly multi- 
plied in congregations and missions. Again 
in 1891, she suffered further loss of pastors and 
people, while her principles, especially her dis- 
sent, were pushed upon the arena of fierce 
debate and public criticism. Notwithstanding 
all, her spirit and purpose are still unyielding 
as in her palmiest days ; her tread is firm and 
her movements determined, as if the masses 
were with her ; for she leans upon the strength 
of her Great King. As in the years of her 
fairer fame, even so now, she " cometh up from 
the wilderness leaning upon her Beloved." 

God has permitted his Covenanted Church to 
pass through great tribulation, and to "drink 
wine of astonishment," but He has at no time 



64 THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 

withdrawn his Holy Spirit nor suffered the 
cause, which she has served, to perish. He 
has often trimmed the branches of his Reform- 
ation tree, but only to make the roots more 
vigorous, and the top eventually more luxu- 
riant in growth and fruit. He has sent many 
disciplinary providences upon this part of his 
Zion, yet He has speedily built it up again 
in numbers and influence. He has unques- 
tionably sustained those who, tenacious of 
their principles, affirm the royal claims of 
King Jesus over the nation, and adhere to 
practical dissent from civil society constituted 
on an immoral and atheistic basis. The cov- 
enanted principles of Reformation were too 
dearly bought to be submerged in a sea of 
political corruption. God treasures them. They 
shall yet be the glory of our beloved land. 
They are the foundation stones upon which all 
nations shall build. The right of Jesus to rule 
in the Church and over the nations, and the 
authority of his Word in civil and religious 
society, these are the two pillars of the glorious 
arch, through which the world will enter into 
the Millennium of righteousness and peace. 



THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 65 



Our work lies wide ; men ache and doubt and die ; Thy 
ark 

Shakes in our hand ; reason and faith (God's son 
And daughter) right their futile battle in the dark. 
Our sluggish eyes slumber with our task half done. 

Oh, bleeding Priest of silent, sad Gethsemane — 

That second Eden where upsprings the Healing Vine, 

Press from our careless foreheads drops of sweat for Thee ! 
Fill us with sacrificial love for souls, like thine. 

1 Thou who didst promise cheer along with tribulation, 
Hold up our trust and keep it firm by much enduring ; 

Feed fainting hearts with patient hopes of thy salvation ; 
Make glorious service, more than luxury's joys, alluring. 

; Hallow our wit with prayer ; our mastery steep in meek- 
ness ; 

Pour on our stumbling studies Inspiration's light : 
Hew out for thy dear Church a future without weakness, 
Quarried from thine eternal order, beauty, might ! 

' O Way for all that live, win us by pain and loss ! 

Fill all our years with toil — and comfort with thy rod 
Through thy ascension cloud, beyond the cross, 

Looms on our sight, in peace, the City of our God. ' ' 



66 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



But continue thou in the things which thou 
hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing 
of whom thou hast learned them ; and that 
from a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip- 
tures, which are able to make thee wise unto 
salvation through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus. 

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction, for instruction in righteousness: 
that the man of God may be perfect, thor- 
oughly furnished unto all good works. — 2 Tim- 
othy hi : 14-17. 

If a man be sincerely wedded to Truth, he 
must make up his mind to find her a portion- 
less Virgin, and he must take her for himself 
alone. The contract, too, must be to love, 
cherish, and obey her, not only until death, 
but beyond it ; for this is a union that must 
survive, not only death, but time. — Colton. 



THEIR SYSTEM OF FAITH. 



67 



Chapter III. 

THE COVENANTERS AND THEIR 
SYSTEM OF FAITH. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church is built 
upon a broad basis. She is sometimes charged 
with bigotry, but the charge is not sustained 
by her creed. Hers is a creed of magnificent 
dimensions and symmetrical proportions. It 
embraces the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
the Assembly's Larger and Shorter Catechisms, 
the Covenants of the Reformation, the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Testimony, and the 
American Covenant of 1871. These constitute 
her creed, as they are held to be drawn from 
the Scriptures, and are agreeable thereto. 
Such a foundation ought assuredly to be broad 
enough for the most liberal mind. Here is 
length and breadth sufficient whereon to build 
a temple of living faith as high as heaven and 
as broad as eternal truth. 

The Covenanter Church is Calvanistic in her 
doctrines. Calvanism is Augustinianism ; 
Augustinianism is Paulinism ; and Paul's doc- 
trines are by the Holy Spirit. This Pauline 
System of doctrine is based upon the princi- 
ple of God's sovereignty in grace. Salvation is 



68 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



not of necessity with. God, but of free grace. 
Under obligations to none, He saves whom He 
will. 

The Covenanter Church is Presbyterian in 
her form of government. Government by 
elders, equal in power, is by Divine appoint- 
ment. Thus was the Church governed in the 
land of Israel ; thus was she governed in Apos- 
tolic times ; thus she has a Divine warrant to 
be governed till the end of the world. All 
other forms of Church government are man's 
invention, and without authority from the 
Word. 

The Covenanter Church is Reformed in her 
worship, She endeavors to retain the sim- 
plicity and purity of the primitive Christian 
Church, in all that pertains to the services of 
the sanctuary. She guards the institutions 
of grace by the well established rule, drawn 
from the Bible, and embodied in her subor- 
dinate standards: — Whatsoever God has not 
commanded to be used, He has forbidden in 
His service of worship. 

This Church is Covenanted. She is joined 
to the Lord, not by a mere profession of faith, 
nor by the bond of general privileges, nor by 
strong arguments of gratitude, but by the 



THEIR SYSTEM OF FAITH. 



69 



perpetual Covenants of the fathers, which, 
though we may forget, we cannot disannul. 
The moral obligations of the former Covenants 
rest upon us. We have felt them ; we have 
acknowledged them ; and we have re-impressed 
them upon the conscience of the Church with 
a new oath administered in 1871. We are the 
Lord's people in covenant, joined to him with 
strongest bonds, to render service, to make sac- 
rifices, and to receive recompense ; the service, 
the sacrifice, and the recompense, are all of high 
order. Let us beware lest we become unworthy 
of the exalted relationship. 

The Covenanter Church, therefore, is Cal- 
vanistic in her doctrine, Presbyterian in her gov- 
ernment, Reformed in her worship, and Cove- 
nanted in her relation to her King and Lord. 
Thus she strives to be clothed upon with the 
whole truth, before God and the world. 

Covenanters are often reminded that their 
views of divine truth and Christian action are 
narrow; and at other times, they are told that 
their creed is cumbrous and perplexing. These 
criticisms are extremes, yet are they entitled 
to consideration. Are our views of truth 
and duty narrow ? Do we chiefly concentrate 
our prayers, preaching, and energies around 



70 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the Kingship of Christ ? Nay ; while the Cov- 
enanter Church is devoted to this, does she not 
endeavor to be true to all the teachings of her 
Lord ? She expends, it is true, much strength 
upon this part of her profession. But she has 
cause. The doctrine of Christ's royal rights 
has been the object of attack all along her line 
of history ; and Providence has assigned her to 
this position of duty. This truth of Christ's 
dominion is the key to all the territory that 
the Reformed churches of the world have won 
from Satan ; also it is the key to all the land of 
missions; and is it marvelous that Satan has 
marshalled his hordes against it for centuries, 
and has drenched the intrenchments thereof 
with martyr blood ? The Covenanted Church 
finding herself placed here in history, con- 
tinued here in providence, intrenched here in 
covenants, and trusted here with responsibil- 
ities, must serve with vigilance and undevia- 
ting loyalty. 

On the other hand, it is asked, Is not her 
creed too cumbrous and perplexing? Why 
not reduce and simplify it ? For best reasons. 
The extensiveness of a church creed, if sound, 
is the evidence of magnanimity of heart and 
illumination of mind, provided the creed be 



THEIR SYSTEM OF FAITH. 



71 



vibrating with the pulsations of spiritual life, 
find its embodiment in the members of the 
church, and have its reflection in their char- 
acter and actions. An expansive creed is the 
expression of what a church believes, a broad 
field of truth rising clearly into view ; not a 
few rock points lifted into sunlight, with the 
rest submerged under a cloud of doubt. It is 
the expression of what she knows, a world of 
knowledge explored by long and patient inves- 
tigation ; not a few simple sentences and prim- 
itive doctrines, with the rest enshrouded in 
vagueness. It is the expression of her courage, 
pushing forward the truth all along the line of 
battle, in the face of assailants ; not present- 
ing a few bristling points where danger is 
least, and suppressing the remainder because 
of opposition and reproach. 

The Flag of the Union carries a star for 
every State in the Union, and as soon as a new 
State is born, a new star is added. That 
cluster of stars has grown into a grand galaxy, 
and woe to the man, who attempts the obliter- 
ation of one of those stars. The Covenanter 
Church has endeavored to fix upon her banner 
every Bible doctrine, as it has come through 
the furnace of controversy, and has been 



72 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



defined in great Councils, and established by 
much experience, to shine with more than the 
lustre and perpetuity of the stars of heaven. 

The Rev. A. R. Van Nest, D.D., in the Second 
Pan-Presbyterian Council said : — " Creeds are 
not made; they grow. But where did our 
creeds grow ? They grew in the fires of perse- 
cution. Go to my fatherland of Holland : 
what do you read upon the columns of history 
there ? One hundred thousand martyrs ! They 
produced this glorious Confession of ours. 
Then turn to Scotland : what do you see 
there? The blood of martyrs all over the hills 
of that country : the memory of the old Cove- 
nanters. Turn to France : there we read about 
the Huguenots. Turn to Italy : what do we 
read there ? Of the same glorious old faith. 
These creeds grew." 

The Rev. J. R. W. Sloane, D.D., on the same 
occasion said : — " Creeds always have been a 
necessity of the Christian Church. They were 
formulated, first, for the benefit of those who 
were within the pale of the Church; and, 
secondly, as a bulwark against errors that were 
outside. We ought to remember that for these 
creeds the Church of Christ in all ages has 
contended unto the death. As I look over the 



THEIR SYSTEM OF FAITH. 73 

long line of witnesses, I trace the pathway of 
the Church by the scaffold on which the wit- 
nesses poured out their blood like water ; and 
by the stake at which they were burned for 
the Word of God, and for their testimony of 
Jesus. It was not simply for the Bible as such, 
but for their understanding of it — for the man- 
ner in which they apprehended its great fun- 
damental truths — that they thus contended 
even unto the death." 

Another eminent divine said at the same 
time, on the same occasion: " The Churches 
which have had long concatenated creeds, 
are themselves to-day strong and vigorous. 
Churches on the other hand, which have been 
constantly extemporizing their creeds, have 
been non-progressive, so that the evidences in 
history are in favor of length in creeds." 

Another remarked : " When a creed is 
adopted as expressing the faith of a church, it 
becomes also a solemn compact or Covenant, 
obliging those who thus receive it to abide 
by the doctrines therein expressed, as long as 
they remain in the communion of that 
Church." 

The Covenanter Church possesses a glorious 
heritage in the creed that expresses her faith, 



74 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



and in the credentials which she has carried 
through the centuries. She cannot be justly 
charged with a narrow basis, nor with a non- 
liberal platform. Her system of faith is com- 
prehensive ; her doctrines are clearly defined ; 
they been have cast, and re-cast, in different 
manuals. They are intended to embrace " the 
Sum of Saving Knowledge," to be co-extensive 
with the teachings of the Bible, and to afford 
the greatest Christian liberty. Being the work 
of man they are of necessity imperfect; but 
the aim of the Church is to correct, improve, 
and complete her testimony for Jesus and 
his truth. 

In view of her extensive and well laid foun- 
dations, the greatness and stability of her doc- 
trines, the breadth and spirituality of her 
creed, and her willingness to accept of that 
which is tried and sure, the aspersion of nar- 
rowness vanishes like the mist before the 
morning, and even the cry of Sectarianism is 
hushed. 

" Be what thou seemest ! Live thy creed ! 
Hold up to earth the torch divine : 
Be what thou prayest to be made ; 
Let the great Master's steps be thine. 



THEIR SYSTEM OF FAITH. 

Sow truth, if thou the true wouldst reap 
Who sows the false shall reap the vain 

Erect and sound thy conscience keep ; 
From hollow words and deeds refrain. 

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure ; 

Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright ; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 

And find a harvest-home of light. ' 5 




76 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The four and twenty elders fall down before 
him that sat on the throne, and worship him 
that liveth forever and ever, and cast their 
crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art 
worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor 
and power: for thou hast created all things, 
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 
— Revelation iv : 10-11. 

Such, if we may so speak, are the insignia of 
the Mediator, insignia of transcendent value 
and matchless splendor. No titles like his 
titles ; — no throne of such peerless majesty ; — 
no crown of such overpowering radiance ; — no 
sceptre of such resistless might; — no laws so 
equitable or beneficent; — no retinue so large 
or so illustrious ; — no ministers so dignified ; 
— no revenues so rich ; — no prerogatives so 
absolute, as his ! " Who in the heaven can 
be compared unto the Lord ? Who among the 
sons of the mighty can be likened unto 
him?" — Rev. William A. Symington, D. D. 



Christ's royal authority. 



77 



Chapter IV. 

THE COVENANTERS AND CHRIST'S 

ROYAL AUTHORITY. 

The Mediatorial dominion of Christ is a 
doctrine which the Covenanters have accepted 
with cordial delight, have maintained with 
ardent devotion, and continue to uphold and 
defend with zealous care. They appreciate 
the entire system of revealed truth; they 
knowingly reject none of the inspired teachings. 
Yet, while they strive to be faithful to all, they 
have a special interest in this. The special in- 
terest has been created by the combined efforts 
of the world and Satan and corrupt churches 
to extinguish this superlative doctrine, while 
some of the fiercest charges led by the Prince 
of Darkness have fallen upon the Covenanter 
ranks. 

The Covenanter Church regards all Bible 
truths as essential — essential to the glory of 
God and our Lord Jesus Christ ; and the suppres- 
sion of any one, even the least, as the blotting 
out of a star. The submerging of this doctrine 
would be the obliteration of the sun. The royal 
glory of Jesus Christ is the brightness of the 
heavens and the light of the earth. This truth 



78 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



has had a greater power in creating the spirit 
and moulding the character of the Covenanter 
Church than any other in her Testimony. 

We love to linger around the cross and speak 
of the atonement; but we have learned also to 
look higher and rejoice in the enthronement. 
Jesus is as great a King as Priest ; and as 
great a Prophet as either ; fills his threefold 
office with matchless competency and eternal 
fitness. As the communicants of this Church 
arise and move in holy procession toward the 
communion table, to sit down under the 
shadow of the cross, with the emblems of the 
Saviour's death in their presence, they sing, and 
have sung from time immemorial, in strains of 
solemn joy — 

" Ye gates lift up your heads on high, 
Ye doors that last for aye, 
Be lifted up, that so the King 
Of glory enter may. ' ' 

Then, having banquetted with their Lord, 
and renewed their covenant with him, they 
return to their pews, lifting up their souls in 
the royal song — 

1 1 Forever and forever is, 

O God, thy throne of might ; 
The scepter of thy kingdom is 
A scepter that is right." 



Christ's royal authority. 



79 



And, while deep emotions are thrilling all 
hearts, and the spiritual powers of each are at 
high tension, the gladness and gratitude and 
loving devotion of the congregation ascend in 
the doxology — 

u And blessed be his glorious Name 
To all eternity ; 
The whole earth let his glory fill. 
Amen, so let it be. ' ' 

The kingship of Christ is most clearly taught 
in the Scriptures. Many elaborate and sub- 
lime descriptions of his exaltation and coro- 
nation have been given by the pen of Inspira- 
tion. We here produce only one. It is found 
in Paul's letter to the Church at Ephesus. He 
records what the Holy Spirit gave him to 
write. He says, " The Father of glory * * * 
raised him from the dead, and set him at his 
own right hand in the heavenly places, far 
above all principality, and power, and might, 
and dominion, and every name that is named, 
not only in this world, but also in that which 
is to come : and hath put all things under his 
feet, and gave him to be the head over all 
things to the church, which is his body, the 
fulness of him that filleth all in all." 

Many such passages of Holy Writ flash like 



80 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



gems in Christ's crown, dazzling with the 
supremacy, the onmipotency, the universality, 
and the unparalleled glory, of his dominion. 
Some of the most august visions of the Book of 
the Revelation exhibit him in his royal char- 
acter, seated complacently on his exalted 
throne, girded with the insignia of power, or 
riding forth in awful majesty. 

Christ's grant of authority and royal char- 
acter imply subjection — the subjection of the 
universe to his sceptre, the cheerful obedience 
of all loyal hearts, and the constrained submis- 
sion of all rebellious subjects. Christ reigns by 
right over all ; He will reign in fact over all. 
Man, who is of the dust, may defy Him for a 
moment, but soon he must feel the weight of 
the rod of iron which he defies. Nations may 
flaunt the flag of treason in his presence, but 
they must at last yield to the power of the Infi- 
nite Kingdom, and the All-conquering King. 

Great are the obligations of loyalty that rest 
upon Christ's disciples. Having learned of 
his enthronement, and of the blessedness of all 
who obey, and the destruction of those who 
defy, duty demands that they honor the truth 
of Christ's sovereignty in every relation in life, 
that they herald it throughout the world, that 



Christ's royal authority. 81 



they urge its application to the varied condi- 
tions of society. The commands of their King 
reach everywhere. His authority can nowhere 
be ignored without sin and danger. No per- 
son, or association of persons, can by any means 
or effort, pass beyond the reach of his sceptre, 
or be free from responsibility under his gov- 
ernment. 

Obedience to King Jesus is the first duty of 
his followers. Loyalty to him is always im- 
perative. Nothing is sufficiently important to 
interfere, to the least extent or for a moment, 
with loyalty to Jesus. By this principle of 
fidelity we must regulate all our interests in 
society. No sacrifice may be counted too dear 
to maintain unsullied loyalty to our exalted 
Saviour. In upholding this principle, some of 
the severest trials have been borne, some of the 
most straining tests have been endured, some 
of the brightest crowns have been won. Here 
some of the hardest battles in the Christian 
field have been fought ; much precious blood 
has been shed ; many brilliant triumphs over 
the Prince of rebels have been achieved. 

Covenanters have learned, by terrible yet 
necessary experience, that fidelity to their Lord 
involves watchfulness, self-denial and tribula- 



82 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



tion. Loyalty requires more than personal 
obedience. It implies obedience in connection 
with all organized society. It implies vigilance 
lest society adopt measures that interfere with 
Christ and conscience. It implies resistance, 
moral and uncompromising resistance, of every 
encroachment upon the rights of Jesus. It im- 
plies separation from all associations, whether 
of the Church or State, in which conditions of 
membership conflict with loyalty to Christ. 

With this purpose of loyalty to King Jesus, 
burning in the breast of our ancestors, they 
contended for all that is justly embraced in the 
system of Presbyterianism, the only form of 
church government in which Christ's author- 
ity is acknowledged and honored without a 
shadow of man's assumption. For the same 
reason Ave stand to-day dissenting from the 
civil government of this land, and are pledged 
by covenant and oath to continue to dissent, 
till the nation make public recognition of the 
Sovereignty of King Jesus. We refuse to share 
in the ministration of political power, while 
this Government acknowledges not God, nor 
regards his Anointed Son, in the Federal Con- 
stitution. 

The fact that Jesus reigns is the hope of the 



Christ's royal authority. 



83 



world, and the source of all true optimism. 
They are the most sanguine concerning the 
future, who grasp this truth most ardently. 
They are the most earnest workers in every 
noble reform, whose eyes are fixed upon the 
Throne that is " high and lifted up ;" their 
assurance of success makes the countenance 
glow. However dark the present day, how- 
ever defiant the powers of evil, however great 
the wrongs that oppress man, however frown- 
ing and terrible the fortresses of iniquity, there 
is coming a tidal wave of righteousness, 
which will carry away the evils of humanity, 
like wrecks cast upon the sea, and the w^orld 
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. 
Christ the King has gone forth to conquer, and 
He will not turn back, till his banner shall 
wave over a ransomed race. He leads forth 
the forces of truth and light, and will not rest 
till every province of his great dominion 
submit, and accept his law; and from a joy- 
ful world shall ascend the loud acclaim — 
" Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and 
honor, and power, unto the lord our 
God : ALLELUIA, FOR THE LORD GOD 
OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH." 



84 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



And the king stood by a pillar, and made a 
covenant before the Lord, to walk after the 
Lord, and to keep his commandments and his 
testimonies and his statutes with all their 
heart and all their soul, to perform the words 
of this covenant that were written in this book. 
And all the people stood to the covenant. — 
II Kings xxiii : 3. 

Consider what makes an oath and covenant 
with God : First, it must be a thing in itself 
lawful. There is no man that warrantably, 
according to the AVord of God, may swear the 
thing which in itself is unlawful. 

Secondly, it must be a thing in itself possi- 
ble, within the man's power. No man is war- 
ranted to swear that which he cannot perform. 

Thirdly, when we take the vow and oath 
of God upon us, we affix the name of the 
Lord to it, AVe swear by the Lord. This (last) 
is the thing that makes this Covenant the 
Covenant of the Lord. — Rev. John Guthrie. 



PUBLIC SOCIAL COVENANTING. 



85 



Chapter V. 

THE COVENANTERS AND PUBLIC 

SOCIAL COVENANTING. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church is to 
some extent distinguished from other denomi- 
nations by the doctrine and practice of public 
social covenanting. This Church regards 
covenanting as an ordinance of God, the obli- 
gations of which are most solemn and perma- 
nent. This privilege has been divinely con- 
ferred upon churches and nations, all being 
encouraged to enter into covenant with God 
and to enjoy the advantages of this ennobling 
relation. 

Persecution of the Church, or defection in 
religion, or peril to the State, or extraordinary 
duties arising from other providential work- 
ings, are the calls of God to the observance of 
this ordinance. 

Covenanting is a moral duty resting upon 
moral persons ; and a natural duty, founded 
in nature, obligating man even before his lapse 
into sin, and in accord ever since with all his 
highest interests. Therefore, this ordinance 
belongs to no particular age or locality, but 
extends to all times and to all places. It is 
God's method of dealing with the human race. 



86 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Adam and Eve were placed under a cove- 
nant, with life as a reward of obedience, and 
death as the penalty of unfaithfulness. 

In the succeeding ages, God gave a more 
lucid exhibition of this exalted relation, by en- 
tering into covenant with Noah, and affixing 
his seal thereto, the rainbow in the cloud. 

He gave a still more brilliant illustration of 
it by becoming the covenant-God of Abraham, 
promising the land of Canaan to his posterity, 
and guiding that patriarch through all his 
strange pilgrimage. 

God yet further unfolded the blessedness of 
this loving relation at Sinai, expressing more 
clearly the duties, evolving more fully the obli- 
gations, revealing more impressively the re- 
wards, and declaring more pointedly the pun- 
ishments, when Israel was assembled at the 
base of the Mount, and in a most memorable 
manner took the oath, which bound each to 
obedience. For our instruction there are left 
on record other instances, in which the people 
of God were led in the solemn and joyful ser- 
vice of covenanting, by such men as Joshua, 
Jehoiada, Josiah and Nehemiah. 

The objection may be urged that these cove- 
nants, and the ordinance of covenanting, be- 



PUBLIC SOCIAL COVENANTING. 



87 



long to the Dispensation that has been super- 
seded by the Gospel. But are they not " writ- 
ten for our admonition, upon whom the ends 
of the world are come?" The ordinance and 
practice of covenanting began with the first 
family of the human race ; and why should they 
not continue while the earth is inhabited ? 

Covenant bonds are perfectly consistent with 
freedom of conscience, and their permanent 
obligations are in harmony with all lawful 
liberty. They are moral and bind to duty 
only ; to duty in the largest sense ; nothing 
less, nothing more. Strictness in duty is no 
restriction of liberty ; rather, the fullest bounds 
thereof. The liberty that is enjoyed through 
laxity may result in the methods and sorrows 
of the libertine. 

The covenants of our fathers have proved to 
be the breakwater, to turn back the tide of 
civil and ecclesiastical despotism. We have 
inherited freedom, because our ancestors en- 
tered into a holy bond with God, by whose help 
they obtained victory over tyrants. We will 
retain this grand heritage, however, and trans- 
mit it to our children, only by fair and loyal 
dealing with God and conscience under our 
covenant obligations. 



88 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The National Covenant of Scotland, and the 
Solemn League and Covenant of the Three 
Kingdoms, embracing the churches in those 
lands, are justly acknowledged to be the most 
notable deeds of the kind in modern times. 
The spirit of those Covenants, and the history 
of their cause and effects, fire the hearts of the 
faithful descendants of the subscribers, making 
them, though few in number, strong in their 
convictions of right, and fearless in opposing 
corrupt institutions and organizations. 

Christian nations are granted the privilege 
of covenanting with God. Then, if this be a 
privilege, it is a duty ; a duty of sublime im- 
portance, carrying responsibility as weighty as 
the privilege is extraordinary. The responsi- 
bility being met in the right spirit will yield a 
harvest of peace, righteousness, and divine 
favor, exalting that people into the blessedness 
of the nation whose God is Jehovah, and wdiose 
land is Beulah. 

A nation entering into covenant with God is 
bound thereby, until the object sought has 
been gained. 

A church having entered into covenant with 
God is thereby anchored to the attainments 
from which she cannot recede, and pledged to 



PUBLIC SOCIAL COVENANTING. 



89 



greater achievements according as they are 
embodied in the written deed. 

Individuals, who enter into such public 
bonds, bind their children by the moral prin- 
ciples of the covenant ; and the obligations 
continue upon posterity until the purpose of 
the engagement has been accomplished. Moral 
obligations will be honored by the honorable; 
and can be ignored by none without sin. 

For this reason the Covenanters of America 
admit the binding force of the Covenants of 
their ancestors of other centuries and other 
lands. They have cheerfully endorsed the 
immutable principles contained therein, as far 
as they are applicable in this country and to 
the condition of society in this age. These 
principles have been inscribed in the Ameri- 
can Covenant. 

This Church has received a heritage of re- 
ligious truth, and reform principles, and pur- 
ity in worship, and most precious liberty in 
the service of God. But all this furnishes no 
occasion for boasting, but much cause for fear 
and trembling. It brings serious responsibil- 
ity. It calls for self-denial, wakeful vigilance, 
and great exertion, lest we be found unfaithful 
to the trust committed to us by our Lord. 



90 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The Covenanter Church has heard the voice 
of her former Covenants, echoing through the 
centuries, and she has responded. She honors 
her obligations therein ; she esteems them to be 
holy. She remembers their original cost ; she 
appreciates the advantages they secured. She 
realizes her accountability for the accumula- 
tion of blessings that have descended upon her ; 
she knows that she will be a betrayer and de- 
faulter if she fail to transmit the same faith- 
fulty to posterity. 0 that she had a larger and 
stronger consciousness of these solemn reali- 
ties ! She has gladly confessed her relation to 
the former covenants, and has entered into the 
oath of a new bond. 0 that she had still 
deeper conviction, and higher conception of re- 
sponsibility — conception of her mission, her 
available strength, and her assured success, as 
joined to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant ! 

The latest Covenant of the Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church in America was sworn in 
1871, by the Synod, and afterwards by the con- 
gregations ; ministers, elders, deacons, and 
members, all in their different relations, sol- 
emnly in the presence of the Most High God, 
accepting the great and enduring obligations, 
appealing to the Judge of all the earth as to 



PUBLIC SOCIAL COVENANTING. 



91 



their sincerity, having in view the blessings 
secured by obedience, and remembering the 
retribution inevitably linked to perfidy. 

This Covenant has been embodied in the 
Terms of Ecclesiastical Communion in the Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church. 

Thus the Covenanters, by a public act in this 
country, have endorsed the noble documents 
of former ages, and have thereby placed them- 
selves voluntarily in rank with the disciples 
who have entered into a solemn oath, and the 
people who have sworn in the name of God, to 
be loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ their King 
and Saviour. 



92 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



And they shall be my people, and I will be 
their God: and I will give them one heart, 
and one way. that they may fear me forever, 
for the good of them, and of their children 
after them ; and I will make an everlasting 
covenant with them, that I will not turn away 
from them to do them good. — Jeremiah xxxii : 
38-40. 

But it is, alas! too apparent that men have 
never known God rightly, nor considered that 
he is a Holy God. Oh, terrible backsliding ! 
They will not believe that God will call them 
to an account for what they owe him. But 
assure yourselves, as He is in Heaven, He will 
call every one to an account, how he has stood 
to that Covenant and work of Reformation. I 
need say no more : but I would have you con- 
sider, that in breaking the Covenant, we have 
trampled under foot the precious truths of 
Christ. — -Andrew Gujllixe, the Martyr. 



PERPETUAL OBLIGATION OF COVENANTS. 93 

Chapter VI. 
THE COVENANTERS AND THE PER- 
PETUAL OBLIGATION OF 
COVENANTS. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church believes 
that her public covenants are of permanent 
force. She acknowledges in her Terms of 
Communion, that the moral obligations of 
such covenants are perpetual, necessarily de- 
scending upon posterity. These covenants 
pass from one generation to another, without 
the least abatement of their moral force. The 
unborn are included in the solemn engage- 
ments and bound by the oath. They are also 
entitled to the blessings, or liable to the penal- 
ties, as by obedience or disobedience, each 
shall choose in his own time. 

The moral obligations of church covenants 
descend upon posterity, because of the conti- 
nuity of the Church's organic life through suc- 
cessive generations. The Church was ordained 
and established to receive, preserve, enjoy, and 
perpetuate holy privileges and obligations ; 
and to do this her personality must continue 
through the ages. 



94 THE COVENANTERS AND THE 

As the tree puts forth new foliage each year, 
yet is the same tree, so the Church puts on new 
freshness one generation after another. The 
beauty of youth and the blight of age follow 
each other incessantly, yet the Church main- 
tains her identity through all these changes. 
Hence the moral engagements of the earlier 
period of her existence bind the later genera- 
tions, and will bind till the conditions shall be 
fulfilled. Moral responsibility travels along 
the line of personality, and travels as far and 
as fast as the person. 

The only way a person can satisfy a moral 
contract to which the second party holds, is by 
fulfilling it, or going out of existence. This 
stands true, whether the person be a man, a 
church, or a nation. Moral responsibility at- 
taches to personality in every sphere of life. 
And when a moral contract has been entered 
into, repudiation can never become satisfaction. 
Neglect is not payment ; time does not cancel 
the terms of a covenant. The repudiation of a 
covenant even with man is intolerable in 
Christian ethics : how much more the attempt 
to play the defaulter with God ? Repudiation 
is not known in the higher morals. 

The continuity of the covenant bond, from 



PERPETUAL OBLIGATION OF COVENANTS. 95 

age to age, is clearly illustrated in the Word of 
God. The Lord complains against Israel, say- 
ing, " This people hath transgressed my Cove- 
nant, which I commanded their fathers." The 
children laid aside the Covenant of their ances- 
tors, disclaimed its privileges, refused its bless- 
ings, defied its threatenings, and accepted the 
momentous consequences. They regarded the 
solemn engagement as obsolete, altogether out 
of date in their progressive times. The holy 
principles, the strict religion, the sworn integ- 
rity and the covenanted fidelity, contained and 
expressed in the sacred bond of their fathers, 
they supposed to have gone down into the 
sepulchre with those fathers to moulder with 
their dust. Nor till the voice of God aroused 
their sleeping conscience, did they awake to a 
sense of their responsibility and danger. It 
was too late, though, to avert the descending 
penalty. God inflicted fearful punishment 
upon that generation as they gloried in their 
false liberty. This Bible illustration was given 
soon after the death of Joshua. 

Seven centuries later, the Lord charges his 
people with breaking " His Covenant that he 
had made with their fathers." The grass had 
grown green over the graves of twenty genera- 



96 THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



tions, when the God of Israel lifted up his 
voice and his hand to avenge the attempted 
repudiation of the Covenant, which He had 
established amidst unparalleled displays of 
power, and majesty, and terrible glory, on 
the top of Sinai. He smote that people for 
their rebellious spirit and refractory conduct, 
so that they never recovered from the merited 
calamity. We see therefore, that public cove- 
nants do not expire with the lives of those who 
enter into them. They descend not into the 
grave with the mortal body of the Covenanter. 
Upon his children and children's children 
they- descend, unto remotest generations. 

The Covenants of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church contain the enduring principles of the 
religion of Christ. They emphasize the king- 
ship of the Lord Jesus, his enthronement over 
the nations, the subjection of all powers under 
him, the supremacy of the Bible as a rule of 
faith and conduct, and its authority In the 
decision of all questions in religion and all 
issues in politics. Such principles having been 
secured and preserved for us through the pro- 
longed struggles of the past, and with the effu- 
sion of Christian blood; such being embodied 
in the Covenants that bind us, how can we for- 



PERPETUAL OBLIGATION OF COVENANTS. 97 

sake these Covenants without being stigmatized 
as moral cowards? How can we forsake them 
without the blood of the martyrs of Jesus cry- 
ing to Heaven against us ? How can we for- 
sake them without drawing down upon our- 
selves and our children the holy vengeance 
that slumbers in a violated oath? Consider 
the vengeance that slumbers to awake with 
startling suddenness or like the soft gathering 
of death's shadows ! 

From this vantage ground of truth and 
right, of liberty and light, won at immense 
sacrifice of life, of lives too precious for earth — 
from this royal heritage, secured by a per- 
petual Covenant, a Covenant stronger than 
death, how can we retire without incurring the 
displeasure of the righteous Judge? If our 
hearts were beating with earnest convictions, 
our souls responding to the high call of 
God, and our eyes fixed upon the Com- 
mander and Rewarder, would we even enter- 
tain the thought of departing from the high 
places of truth, won by our fathers and 
entrusted to their children ? The suggestion 
is Satan's temptation. Let us resist it by the 
grace of God. 

But there is a Mount Gerizim, as well as a 



98 



THE COVENANTERS AND THE 



Mount Ebal ; the elevated stand from which 
God distributes his blessings, right in view of 
the public station from which He dispenses 
his retributions. 

The blessings awarded for fidelity to the 
Covenants are inestimable. Honoring the holy 
contract with God, we are sure of large recom- 
pense. Fidelity lifts the soul up to the Lord, 
elevates its powers into highest action, awakens 
the fountains of spiritual life, makes the graces 
of the heart blossom and bear fruit, brings us 
into the only condition in which we can have 
fullest enjoyment of God ; wins nothing of itself, 
but all things through the Lord Jesus. Is not 
this a sufficient reward? Is not this recom- 
pense enough on earth ? Does it not more than 
offset, a thousand times, all the sacrifices de- 
manded by fidelity 9 

Covenanting with God is merely laying hold 
upon God's Covenant. The Lord has said, " I 
will be their God, and they shall be my people." 
He has lifted up his hand, placing Himself 
under the awful oath which none but God could 
take, pledging to his people in an everlasting 
bond, his Love, his Son, his Spirit, his Heaven, 
his own Most Glorious Self, all that He is, all 
that He has. Is there not reward enough in this 



PERPETUAL OBLIGATION OF COVENANTS. 99 



to satisfy the largest desires of the largest soul ? 
Reward enough to compensate for the greatest 
sacrifices fidelity can demand in any age or 
in any extremity ? 

God's Covenant contains an infinitude of 
goodness and mercy and glory. The Ancients 
regarded existence as a tree that overspread 
the earth, and all the shining globes of 
space as fruit upon the bending branches. 
The Covenanted Promise, " I will be your God," 
is this tree that rises high, and spreads afar, 
whose branches bend with all manner of 
blessings. Ye, who are in holy bonds with 
God, who have sealed your Covenant with 
the sublimest act of conscience, and are 
endeavoring to honor it by a fearless and con- 
stant fidelity, ye are sitting under this 
wonderful tree, delighting in its shade, and 
eating its pleasant fruit. Lift up your eyes 
and behold the skies full of divine goodness, 
and the earth strewn with mercies, — fruit for 
you, and others, yea, for all who keep covenant 
w T ith God. 



100 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Although my house be not so with God, yet 
he hath made with me an everlasting cove- 
nant, ordered in all things and sure : for this 
is all my salvation, and all my desire, although 
he make it not to grow— II Samuel xxiii : 5. 

The restoring of the ruined temple of the 
Covenanted Reformation, and thereby the 
effecting of a Third Reformation, this is the 
work of the present hour, the work of every 
true patriot, of every lover of the Church, of 
every lover of Christ's Crown. — Rev. James 
Kerr, D. D. 

We, in obedience to the command of God, 
conformably to the practice of the godly in 
former times, and recognizing all that is moral 
in the Covenants of our worthy religious pro- 
genitors of the Second Reformation, do hereby 
give ourselves in covenant to God, to his 
Church, and to one another. — American 
Covenant-Confession. 



THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 



101 



Chapter VII. 

THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 

We, Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and Mem- 
bers of The Reformed Presbyterian Church 
in North America, with our hands lifted up, 
do jointly and severally swear by the Great 
and Dreadful Name of the Lord Our God : 

I. That, coming into the presence of the 
Lord God with a deep conviction of his awful 
majesty and glory, of his omniscience, his 
purity, his justice and his grace; of our guilt 
and total depravity by nature, and our utter 
inability to save ourselves from deserved con- 
demnation to everlasting punishment ; with 
renunciation of all dependence on our own 
righteousness as the ground of pardon and 
acceptance with God, w^e receive for ourselves 
and for our children, the Lord Jesus Christ as 
He is offered in the Gospel to be our Saviour — 
the Holy Spirit to be our Enlightener, 
Sanctifier and Guide — and God, the Father, to 
be our everlasting Portion ; we approve and 
accept of the Covenant of Grace as all our sal- 
vation and desire, and take the moral law as 



102 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



dispensed by the Mediator, Christ, to be the A 
rule of our life, and to be obeyed by us in all 
its precepts and prohibitions. 

Aiming to live for the glory of God as our 
chief end, we will, in reliance upon God's 
grace, and feeling our inability to perform any 
spiritual duty in our own strength, diligently 
attend to searching the Scriptures, religious 
conversation, the duties of the closet, the house- 
hold, the fellowship-meeting and the sanctuary, 
and will seek in them to worship God in spirit 
and in truth. "We do solemnly promise to 
depart from all iniquity, and to live soberly, 
righteously, and godly in this present world, 
commending and encouraging, by 'our exam- 
ple, temperance, charity and godliness. 

II. That after careful examination, having 
embraced the system of faith, order and wor- 
ship revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and 
summarized, as to doctrine, in the Westminster 
Confession and Catechisms, and Reformed 
Presbyterian Testimony, and as to order and 
worship, justly set forth in substance and out- 
line in the Westminster Form of Church Gov- 
ernment and Directory for Worship, we do 
publicly profess and own this as the true 



THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 



103 



Christian faith and religion, and the system of 
order and worship appointed by Christ for his 
own house, and, by the grace of God, we will 
sincerely and constantly endeavor to under- 
stand it more fully, to hold and observe it in its 
integrity, and to transmit the knowledge of 
the same to posterity. We solemnly reject 
whatever is known by us to be contrary to the 
Word of God, our recognized and approved 
manuals of faith and order, and the great 
principles of the Protestant Reformation. Par- 
ticularly, we abjure and condemn Infidelity, 
under all its various aspects : Atheism, or the 
denial of the divine existence ; Pantheism, with 
its denial of the divine personality; Naturalism, 
with its denial of the divine Providential Gov- 
ernment; Spiritualism, with its denial of the 
Bible redemption ; Indifferentism, with its 
denial of man's responsibility ; Formalism, 
with its denial of the power of godliness. We 
abjure and condemn Popery, with its arrogant 
assumption of supremacy and infallibility ; its 
corrupt and heretical teachings ; its dogma of 
the Immaculate Conception ; its hostility to 
civil and religious liberty, to the progress of 
society in civilization and intelligence, and 
especially its denial, in common with infidelity, 



104 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



of the right and duty of the State to educate in, 
morality and religion by the use of the Bible 
in schools enjoying its patronage and support. 

Believing Presbyterianism to be the only 
divinely instituted form of government in the 
Christian Church, we disown and reject all 
other forms of ecclesiastical polity, as without 
authority of Scripture, and as damaging to 
purity, peace and unity in the household of 
faith." 

We reject all systems of false religion and 
will-worship, — and with these all forms of 
secret oath-bound societies and orders, as 
ensnaring in their nature, pernicious in their 
tendency, and perilous to the liberties of both 
Church and State ; and pledge ourselves to 
pray and labor according to our power, that 
whatever is contrary to godliness may be 
removed, and the Church beautified with uni- 
versal conformity to the law and will of her 
Divine Head and Lord. 

III. Persuaded that God is the source of all 
legitimate power ; that He has instituted civil 
government for his own glory and the good of 
man ; that He lias appointed his Son, the 
Mediator, to headship over the nations; and 



THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 



105 



that the Bible is the supreme law and rule in 
national as in all other things, we will main- 
tain the responsibility of nations to God, the 
rightful dominion to Jesus Christ over the 
commonwealth, and the obligation of nations 
to legislate in conformity with the written 
Word. We take ourselves sacredly bound to 
regulate all our civil relations, attachments, 
professions, and deportment, by our allegiance 
and loyalty to the Lord, our King, Lawgiver, 
and Judge ; and by this, our oath, we are 
pledged to promote the interests of public 
order and justice, to support cheerfully what- 
ever is for the good of the commonwealth in 
which we dwell, and to pursue this object in 
all things not forbidden by the law of God, or 
inconsistent with public dissent from an 
unscriptural and immoral civil power. 

We will pray and labor for the peace and 
welfare of our country, and for its reformation 
by a constitutional recognition of God as the 
source of all power, of Jesus Christ as the Ruler 
of nations, of the Holy Scriptures as the 
supreme rule, and of the true Christian religion ; 
and we will continue to refuse to incorporate 
by any act, with the political body, until this 
blessed reformation has been secured. 



106 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



IV. That, believing the Church to be one, 
and that all the saints have communion with 
Gocl and with one another in the same Cove- 
nant ; believing, moreover, that schism and 
sectarianism are sinful in themselves, and 
inimical to true religion, and trusting that 
divisions shall cease, and the people of Gocl 
become one Catholic Church over all the earth, 
we will pray and labor for the visible oneness 
of the Church of God in our own land and 
throughout the world, on the basis of truth 
and of Scriptural order. Considering it a prin- 
cipal duty of our profession to cultivate a holy 
brotherhood, we will strive to maintain Chris- 
tian friendship with pious men of every name, 
and to feel and act as one with all in every 
land who pursue this grand end. And, as a 
means of securing this great result, we will by 
dissemination and application of the princi- 
ples of truth herein professed, and by culti- 
vating and exercising Christian charity, labor 
to remove stumbling-blocks, and to gather 
into one the scattered and divided friends of 
truth and righteousness. 

V. Rejoicing that the enthroned Mediator is 
not only King in Zion, but King over all the 



THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 107 



earth, and recognizing the obligation of his 
command to go into all the world and preach 
the Gospel to every creature, and to teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
and resting with faith in the promise of his 
perpetual presence as the pledge of success, we 
hereby dedicate ourselves to the great work of 
making known God's light and salvation 
among the nations, and to this end will labor 
that the Church may be provided with an 
earnest self-denying and able ministry. Pro- 
foundly conscious of past remissness and neg- 
lect, we will henceforth by our prayers, pecu- 
niary contributions and personal exertions, 
seek the revival of pure and undefiled religion, 
the conversion of Jews and Gentiles to Christ, 
that all men may b3 blessed in Him, and that 
all nations may call Him blessed. 

VI. Committing ourselves with all our inter- 
ests to the keeping of Him in whom we have 
believed ; in faithfulness to our vows, and to 
the Covenants of our fathers, and to our chil- 
dren whom we desire to lead in the right ways 
of the Lord ; in love to all mankind, especially 
to the household of faith ; in obedience to the 



108 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



commandment to the everlasting God to con- 
tend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
the saints, we will bear true testimony in word 
and in deed for every known part of divine 
truth, and for all the ordinances appointed by 
Christ in his kingdom ; and we will tenderly 
and charitably, but plainly and decidedly, 
oppose and discountenance all and every 
known error, immorality, neglect or perversion 
of divine institutions. Taking as our example 
the faithful in all ages, and, most of all, the 
blessed Master Himself, and with our eye fixed 
upon the great cloud of witnesses, who have 
sealed with their blood the testimony which they 
held, we will strive to hold fast the profession 
of our faith without wavering, in hope of the 
crown of life which fadeth not away. 

Finally, we enter upon this solemn act of cov- 
enanting before the Omniscient God with un- 
feigned purpose of paying our vow. All sinister 
and selfish ends and motives we solemnly disa- 
vow, and protest that we have no aim but the 
glory of God, and the present and everlasting wel- 
fare of immortal souls. And our prayer to God is 
and shall be to strengthen us by his Holy 



THE AMERICAN COVENANT. 



109 



Spirit to keep this our promise, vow and oath, 
and to bless our humble attempt to glorify his 
name and honor, his truth and cause with 
such success as will bring salvation to our own 
souls, the wider spread and triumph of truth 
and holiness, and the enlargement and estab- 
lishment of the kingdom of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father 
and the Spirit, one God, be glory in the Church 
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 




110 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my 
servant whom I have chosen ; that ye may 
know and believe me, and understand that I 
am he ; before me there was no God formed, 
neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am 
the Lord ; and beside me there is no Saviour. — 
Isaiah xliii : 10-11. 

Oh, mother ! bless the Lord that ever He 
gave you a son, and flesh and bones, to be hon- 
ored to be a sufferer for his precious name, 
truths and interest, cause and Covenant, and 
concerns, according to his own rule in his 
blessed Word, which is contained in the Old and 
New Testaments, agreeable to all truths con- 
tained therein. Oh, mother ! will you be 
entreated for his love's sake, to give me back 
again to Him in a free-will offering ? Oh ! I am 
persuaded that it would please my matchless 
Lord, and then it would fare better with me and 
you both. — John Wharry, The Martyr. 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 



Ill 



Chapter VIII. 

THE COVENANTERS AND TESTIMONY 
BEARING. 

The entire system of Gospel truth is the 
Church's Testimony in presence of the world. 
The whole Church of Christ is God's authorized 
witness, called out to declare what she has 
seen, and known, and received, and enjoyed, 
of the love of the Father. She is qualified to 
bear testimony especially to what has come 
under her own observation, or has been experi- 
enced in her own life. 

All Christians do not equally discharge this 
important duty. The great majority decline 
to give positive testimony on controverted 
questions of religion. Many love to rest quietly 
in the acceptance of salvation, without spiritual 
energy, distinctive character, or decisive voice, 
to entitle them to the name of witnesses. 
Their moral bearing neither commends reli- 
gion, nor advocates the claims of Christ. 

A true witness must possess some strong 
traits of character : intelligence, conviction, 
devotion, fortitude, self-denial, ability to endure 
reproach, perseverance against wind and 



112 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



tide of public sentiment, love of the truth burn- 
ing in the heart more intensely than the love 
of life. These are qualities essential in the 
acceptable witness for Christ's truth, in those 
who would defend truth at the world's bar, — 
truth as it redeems man and glorifies God. 
But all who profess the faith of Jesus do not 
possess this array of Christian virtues. 

However, God will have his witnesses. He 
raises them up in his providence, and quali- 
fies them by his Spirit. He gives them their 
commission and assigns to them their work. 
He clothes them with authority and girds them 
with strength. He illuminates their faces with 
earnestness and assurance, and makes their 
countenance like adamant in the presence of 
opposition. 

The author of the Apocalypse evidently 
refers to these in his description of the " living 
creatures." They have an intellect that soars 
through the heavens of spiritual truth like an 
eagle ; a heart lion-like in moral courage ; the 
power of endurance like the ox that toils all 
day; and the face of a man, lighted up and 
lifted up with the consciousness of a just cause 
and an approving of God. 

Not all Christians gird themselves thus for 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 



113 



the higher duties and heavier tasks of disciple- 
ship. All do not thus prepare by study, 
prayer, fasting, self-denial, communion with 
Heaven, and constant touch with the powers of 
the Glory- world ; not all thus prepare to " fol- 
low the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." But 
a sufficient number is ever found to vindicate 
the right, and to accomplish the purpose of 
God in giving testimony. Nor are they found 
exclusively in any church. They are heard, 
and felt, in perhaps every evangelical denomi- 
nation. 

Those earnest, fearless, consecrated men 
and women, with minds illuminated, and 
hearts animated, and lives absorbed, and 
actions inspired by a mighty purpose to ele- 
vate society into the knowledge of God, and 
disseminate the great moral principles that 
shall yet reform the world, pursuing the work 
of temperance, pure literature, abolition of war, 
Sabbath observance, the sanctity of home, 
Christian politics, the relief of the poor, or the 
adjustment of labor troubles — those champions 
of right and reform as they urge the applica- 
tion of Gospel truth to the varied conditions 
and necessities of society, are the witnesses of 
Jesus, giving unmistakable and practical testi- 
mony in the face of opposing public sentiment. 



114 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



But the Covenanter Church, as a church, is 
involved in a special service of witness-bear- 
ing. She is accredited with obligations that 
have descended from a Covenanted ancestry. 
Ages ago, she ascended the witness-stand at 
the summons of her Lord and King, and 
placed herself under the oath of God, to give 
testimony to " the truth, the whole truth, 
and nothing but the truth," of Jesus Christ. 
Through bitter reproach, under the menace 
of cruelty, at the expense of liberty and 
with much loss of life, she gave testimony with 
a clear voice and in unmistakable language. 
Not only was the Gospel of salvation heralded 
to man, but the kingly claims of Jesus over 
both Church and State. 

The early Covenanters insisted upon the 
recognition of divine authority in the Church 
for all her institutions, her government, her 
faith, her worship, her ministry, and the quali- 
fications of her membership. They also in- 
sisted upon the sovereignty of Jesus over 
nations, the duty of acknowledging his sceptre, 
and bringing all political systems into con- 
formity to his will as revealed in the Scrip- 
tures. They advocated the truths of these 
claims of Christ, amidst repeated and pro- 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 



115 



longed persecutions. The witnesses were slain 
by thousands, but other thousands arose in their 
stead. Many voices were silenced by the axe, 
the fire, the gibbet, and the gun, but other 
voices fearlessly took up the testimonj^. 

Covenanters are, by the permanency of their 
Covenants, qualified witnesses. Covenant obli- 
gations wear not out with age. They descend 
upon posterity. By virtue of our Covenants, 
our Church is still on the witness-stand, on the 
same old witness-stand, and under the same 
awe-inspiring oath. She cannot escape the 
duty of declaring those royal truths of God, 
that are held in abeyance by many churches, 
and rejected by all nations. The authority of 
God over the whole race of man, the rights of 
Jesus as the "Governor among the nations," 
the supremacy of the Bible as the source 
of wisdom and law to regulate society in 
every relation — these are the truths that are 
perilously neglected and criminally rejected; 
these are the truths that have need of wit- 
nesses who cannot be silenced ; truths that are 
fundamental and all-important to the great 
interests of humanity. 

The sweet and easy doctrines of salvation 
through the death of Christ have millions of 



11G THE COVENANTERS AND 

witnesses ; no lack of testimony on points so 
pleasant and readily accepted. But the truths 
that bring man into subjection and compel his 
proud spirit to bend, that strike against the 
infidelity of organized society and the strong 
citadels of Satan, that place nations, their 
institutions and officials, under law to the 
Divine Ruler, such truths are not acceptable to 
the natural heart ; such truths are despised by 
a rebellious world; such truths are lightly 
esteemed by multitudes of professing Chris- 
tians. These are the truths, therefore, which in 
our day, call loudly for witnesses, and demand 
most vigorous and undeviating testimony. 

The Covenanter Church is on the witness- 
stand. She was placed there ages ago by her 
Lord. She has been continued there in Provi- 
dence under her covenant oath. Let her there- 
fore give testimony to the truth without fear or 
hesitancy. Let not her voice weaken or falter ;. 
let not her language vary ; let not her message 
be suppressed. Her position and service imply 
self-denial and sacrifice, but experience has 
taught her to shrink from neither. 

The members of the Covenanter Church 
may not all be imbued with the spirit, or pos- 
sessed of the qualifications, of the public wit- 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 



117 



ness. But they all occupy a prominent position, 
hj connection with this Church, where the moral 
force of their religion is in itself a testimony in 
behalf of the controverted truths of Christ. 
Conscientiousness is their clear earnest voice. 
Consistency speaks with greater force than 
the most eloquent tongue ; quiet fidelity to 
principle is often the most daring courage. 

Grave responsibility rests upon Covenanted 
ministers, in inspiring, instructing, and leading 
forward, the witnesses of Jesus placed under 
their charge. The congregation justly expects 
the pastor to stand in front, and advocate the 
truth against all adverse opinions and oppos- 
ing powers. The people expect him to move 
in the front of the battle, covered with the 
armor of the Gospel, receiving the missiles of 
the foe unharmed, and returning the fire in an 
effective manner. They naturally expect him 
to defend the cause, which they and he have 
espoused, against all odds ; and, by a consistent 
life, wise address, faithful preaching and con- 
victing logic, to herald the royal truths 
and moral principles, that shine in Christ's 
diadem like gems, and gleam across the world 
like the dawn of the Millennial morning. 
The congregation instinctively looks to the 



118 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



pastor for instruction, for encouragement, and 
for a worthy example. The covenanted min- 
ister who refuses to lead faithfully, preach 
earnestly, teach diligently, and defend zeal- 
ously, the Reformation truths, which are the 
gloiy of the Eternal King and the hope of all 
nations, forgets that he is on the witness-stand, 
and under the oath of God; and he may well 
fear the woe pronounced against the perfidious 
prophet. 

The witnesses of Jesus shall prevail. They 
who are thus employed in the service of the 
Master shall be rewarded with success. The 
cause they maintain shall triumph. " And 
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the word of their testimony ; and they 
loved not their lives unto the death." " Be 
thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life." 

" O ! 'tis in grand and stirring times, 
The Master bids yon serve Him : 
And he, who now would do His work, 
To earnest toil must nerve him. 

"Therefore he strong : for duties wait. 
Be calm : for they may try thee. 
And the Lord whose work you do, will still, 
With strength for each supply thee ! 



TESTIMONY BEARING. 



119 



" Stand, where the old Eeformers stood ! 
Nor fear to take their station. 
The cause for which they shed their blood, 
May need thine attestation. 

' ' Stand for the Truth ! and when he comes, 
Whose standard thou art bearing, 
As thou hast borne the cross, thou shalt 
A Crown of Life be wearing." 




120 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Let no man deceive you with vain words : 
for because of these things cometh the wrath 
of God upon the children of disobedience. Be 
not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye 
were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light 
in the Lord : walk as children of light ; (for the 
fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and right- 
eousness and truth) ; proving what is accept- 
able unto the Lord. And have no fellowship 
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but 
rather reprove them. — Ephesians v: 6-11. 

The friends of truth, the subjects of him 
who is King in Zion, must stand prepared to 
surrender the applause of man, whose " breath 
is in his nostrils ;" must value, above every- 
thing, the approbation of the Almighty ; and 
aim, at all times, at being able to say in sin- 
cerity, " We serve the Lord Christ." By tak- 
ing a decided stand on their own proper 
ground, without being moved from it by the 
dread of singularity, and without suffering 
themselves to be swallowed up in the devour- 
ing vortex of party strife, or of latitudinarian 
indifference, their very position will carry in it 
a distinct and palpable testimony for the truth 
as it is in Jesus. — Rev. William Syming- 
ton, D. D. 



POLITICAL DISSENT. 



121 



Chapter IX. 

THE COVENANTERS AND POLITICAL 
DISSENT. 

The relation which Covenanters sustain to 
Civil Government, is clearly expressed in their 
Testimony. It has also been repeatedly ex- 
plained in the deliverances of their Synod. It 
cannot be misunderstood by any who have a 
wish to know. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church is a 
friend of all true government. She cordially 
commends, and steadily upholds, and with all 
her moral strength defends civil authority, 
when it is based upon Bible principles, and 
administered according to them. She recog- 
nizes the State, when constituted in harmony 
with divine requirements, as God's ordinance, 
clothed with dignity, invested with sacred 
majesty, and commanding the admiration and 
allegiance of all good people. 

But the State that disowns God and makes no 
acknowledgment of Christ as the Great King, 
that ignores the authority of the Infallible 
Law, and confesses no responsibility to the 
Eternal Throne, that State cannot command 



122 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the unqualified allegiance of Christians. Yea? 
the followers of Jesus are necessitated to sepa- 
rate themselves from such a compact of govern- 
ment. They must refuse upon the grounds of 
honor, conscience, and consistency, to be iden- 
tified by oath or ballot with such a political 
system. To become a party therein would 
involve them in strange relations and impli- 
cate them in great wrongs. 

Loyalty to Christ, therefore, and loyalty to 
country, equally enjoin the duty of dissent 
from a government founded upon immoral or 
infidel principles ; — loyalty to Christ, for no 
power on earth may interfere with purest de- 
votion to the Lord ; — loyalty to country, for 
the nation that disowns God thereby imperils 
her own life. 

The Government of the United States con- 
tains these radical and humiliating defects. 
The Federal Constitution makes no mention 
of God ; contains no recognition of the en- 
throned Messiah ; accepts not the Scriptures as 
containing the supreme law for nations. While 
many excellent features exist in this Constitu- 
tion, while it is an admirable system of justice 
between man and man, and a profound expo- 
sition of Republican principles, yet, unfortu- 



POLITICAL DISSENT. 



123 



nately, it looks no higher than the horizon. Its 
countenance catches none of the benign rays 
of Heaven. It is silent concerning the honors, 
the rights, and the powers of God, which are 
inseparably linked to the interests of human- 
ity, and connected with the duty and destiny 
of nations. It contains no reference to the 
homage and obedience due the Ruler of the 
Universe. Therefore, Covenanters dissent from 
this Constitution of government, and refuse to 
use the elective franchise, or share in the 
administration of civil power. 

This they do voluntarily ; yet is it of moral 
necessity. They subordinate their rights as 
citizens to their obligations as Christians. 
With them, Christianity is higher than poli- 
tics. However ardently they love their coun- 
try, they love their Redeemer more. Their 
fidelity to Jesus, the King of nations, and 
their advocacy of his royal claims are by no 
means least among the evidences of their 
patriotism, and the best proofs of devotion to 
the country's highest good. 

Also, so far as we have discovered, practical 
dissent is the only way of escape from the 
moral pollution flowing from the great defects 
in our political system. In harmony with the 



124 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



false principles of morality upon which the 
Constitution is based, many crimes against 
Gocl and humanity are legalized, sustained, 
defended, and practiced by the nation in its 
organized capacity. 

The Federal laws authorize the desecration 
of the Sabbath day by the Postal Service. The 
monstrous system of saloons, breweries and 
distilleries, is recognized in the civil courts and 
protected by them. The code of marriage and 
divorce in various States nullifies the com- 
mandment of Jesus Christ. Freemasonry and 
other immoral institutions are created and 
sustained by the State. In the face of such 
facts, how can a voting Christian be clean? 
How can he be free from these shameful iniq- 
uities? How can he be innocent in the pres- 
ence of the world and of his Judge? How 
can he escape the reproof of conscience and the 
brand of inconsistency in his religion ? How 
can he claim to be loyal to his Divine Master, 
while he is one with the Government which 
perpetrates these wrongs in the sight of God 
and in defiance of his authority ? And — 0 
deathless Conscience, give answer — how can 
he expect to escape righteous retribution ? 

Separation is the only way of guiltlessness 



POLITICAL DISSENT. 



125 



in these matters that we have yet discovered. 
Therefore, the Covenanter Church has con- 
stantly refused to allow her members to bring 
evil upon themselves, and to increase the 
nation's guilt, by sharing in civil services and 
political honors. The one political right 
w r hich they can consistently use, and which 
they must continue to use while the Govern- 
ment is established as at present, is the right 
of dissent. 

But this dissent cannot be exercised hon- 
estly without being accompanied with a most 
vigorous protest. The evil is not to be quietly 
escaped, but persistently exposed and emphati- 
cally denounced. The great omission in the 
nation's Constitution is an offence against the 
Majesty of Heaven ; it is a menace to the very 
life of the republic ; it is a sin of enormous 
proportions. It is prolific of many and mon- 
strous evils, and the legal stronghold of the ene- 
mies of Christianity. It hinders the progress 
of all moral reforms, overshadows the land 
with the wrath of God, and calls forth judg- 
ments with ruinous effect upon property and 
population. It is a standing insult against 
the Lord Jesus, the Governor among the na- 
tions. Therefore, they who are true to their 



126 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



God and country cannot hold their peace ; they 
must utter their protest against the great evil 
which defies the Lord and darkens the land. 

Here is the most arduous task of patriotism. 
There can be no severer test of loyalty to the 
country than this. But it is a test which the 
members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
cheerfully meet. They testify against the moral 
defects of the nation's Constitution of govern- 
ment. They expose the sin, and tremble at 
the thought of divine vengeance. With united 
voice they proclaim the blessedness " of the 
nation whose God is the Lord/' and assert the 
danger of the nation that " forgets God." 

This attitude toward our beloved country is 
often misunderstood, if not misrepresented, as 
being unpatriotic, But neither apathy nor 
indifference is the cause. Some remain away 
from the polls because they are immersed in 
business ; others because they are wanting in 
devotion to their country ; not so with the man 
who dissents in the true spirit of the Cove- 
nanter. His strong conviction of duty in his 
civil and political relations permits no indiffer- 
ence to the nation's weal or woe, either at elec- 
tion time, or on any other occasion. 

Xor is the attitude of dissent the result of 



POLITICAL DISSENT. 



127 



despair as to the possibility of reform. Not a 
few earnest Christians believe that human 
nature is so corrupt, and politics are so immoral 
and degraded, that there is no hope of refor- 
mation, till the Lord himself shall come and 
take to him his Kingdom. These wait and 
look for his personal and visible coming. But 
the true dissenter is a hopeful worker. He is 
an active political toiler, though he becomes 
not a zealous partisan, neither mounts the 
platform during the campaign, nor yet casts a 
ballot at the close of the struggle. He never 
despairs of the republic. He labors steadily 
for its reformation in ways that require more 
effort and sacrifice, and are more permanently 
efficient, than the spasmodic energies of a 
voter's campaign. 

Dissent, when based upon just grounds, 
and offered with intelligence, indicates love 
of country of the purest type. It is not that 
kind of patriotism that shoulders a flaring 
lamp, and tramps the streets, and howls 
itself hoarse. It has less passionate demon- 
stration, but more intelligent zeal. It thinks 
of the nation's sins and the nation's dan- 
ger. It thinks of the truth, that " sin is a 
reproach to any people," and that dishonor 



128 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



done to Christ will surely bring dishonor to 
the commonwealth. It bears in mind that the 
Christian who strikes hands in most solemn 
compact with the enemies of Christ, to admin- 
ister the government of the country on a basis 
that ignores God's law, is not only dishonor- 
ing his Royal Master, but also digging the 
grave of the nation he professes to serve. 

If our country shall be saved from the moral 
evils that threaten her life, it will only be 
through a radical change of the compact which 
binds Christ's followers in unholy agreement 
with political atheism and infidelity. To agree 
to administer civil government over a nation, 
largely made up of Christians, and enjoying 
greatest Christian freedom, with the name of 
God unrecognized in the fundamental law, and 
the Lord's Authority, and the Lord's Day, and 
the Lord's Book, constitutionally ignored and 
dishonored, is certainly unworthy of the disci- 
ples of Jesus, and a blot on true patriotism. 
Both patriotism and religion, with united 
voice and earnest call, demand separation from 
a political system, that bars out the law of 
Christ, and Christ himself, who is KING OF 
KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Therefore, 
Covenanters withdraw from the Government of 



POLITICAL DISSENT. 



129 



this country by political dissent, and decline to 
take any responsible part in the administration 
of civil power. 

Covenanters are in full accord with the 
Republican form of government. They are 
devoted to this Republic. They sustain all 
just laws most heartily, and most cheerfully 
pay their taxes. In the day of their country's 
peril, they offered their lives upon the battle- 
field, and only on the side of the Union. As 
they stood in the front during the Abolition 
struggle, they were ready to march to the front, 
to assist in subduing the Rebellion. As citi- 
zens and patriots they can be accused of only 
one irregularity — they cast no ballot. But for 
this they are ready to assign their reason — the 
ballot implicates in the wrongs of the Govern- 
ment; and they express their hope — the Gov- 
ernment will yet be established upon correct 
moral principles, and administered in harmony 
with the Will of God. God speed the day ! 



130 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



But be filled with the Spirit; speaking to 
yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, singing and making melody in your 
heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all 
things unto God and the Father, in the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ephesians v : 18-20. 

Oh, my soul! that thou couldst tell how 
thou hast been enlarged into the liberty of 
divine thought, and borne upon the wings of 
contemplation beyond the bounds of time and 
space, wrapt into the mysteries of the divine 
life, and with a strong heart and serene coun- 
tenance, brought back to fight and to finish 
the warfare, till thy change come, by the glori- 
ous representations of Jehovah and his acts, 
contained in the book of. psalms, which truly 
are the fiery chariot, the vehicle sent from 
God to carry the saints into the third Heavens, 
that they maj^ breathe an imperial air, and 
return lightened of their troubles, and quick- 
ened in their spirit, to finish the heavy work 
which God hath given them to do ! — Rev. 
Edward Irving, D. D. 



DIVINE PSALMODY. 



131 



Chapter X. 

THE COVENANTERS AND DIVINE 
PSALMODY. 

The Inspired Psalter has been accepted, and 
is used, by the Reformed Presbyterian Church, 
as the only Book of Divine Praise. The Psalms 
of the Bible comprise the only collection of 
poems or lyrics God has given to his Church 
to be employed in the service of worship. 
There is no other book of praise among the 
many used by the churches, that can be termed 
pure, complete, and infallible, because no other 
bears the seal of holy inspiration. 

God most carefully ordained, and most zeal- 
ously guarded, the service of worship in his 
ancient Church. He specifically mentioned 
everything essential, in the construction of the 
ark, the compounding of the incense, and the 
offering of the sacrifices. He specified most 
unmistakably what ought to be done, and what 
ought to be offered. His instructions were 
nearly all positive ; seldom were they negative. 
He gave a list of the acceptable sacrifices. He 
left no doubt as to what He would receive ; 
nor did He empower any man to select what 



132 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



had not been mentioned. He taught the peo- 
ple that whatsoever was not on the authorized 
list of sacrifices was declined, condemned and 
abhorred. He threw around his system of 
worship a prohibition that flamed with divine 
jealousy, saying, " Ye shall offer no strange 
incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat 
offering." 

Thus an infallible and immutable principle 
has been divinely established to protect the 
Church of God from corruption, and the wor- 
ship of God from man's interference ; and this 
principle is — " What God has not commanded 

TO BE USED IN HIS WORSHIP, HE HAS FOR- 
BIDDEN." 

Any deviation from this principle is a flood- 
gate, which opens wider and wider, by the force 
of the flood itself — the torrent of human pre- 
sumption and cardinal suggestions. Through 
it have come the unauthorized customs and ser- 
vices which prevail in many evangelical 
churches, and all the abominations that have 
overswept the Church of Rome. 

What shall we sing in the worship of God ? 
The question is of more than ordinary signifi- 
cance. The nature of the answer touches upon 
most precious interests. The earnest worshiper 



DIVINE PSALMODY. 



133 



cannot be indifferent. God has said, " I 
will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, 
and before all the people I will be glorified." 
Yea, God will be sanctified in them that come 
nigh him, though it be in the ashes of the 
reckless sons of Aaron. 

God is holy. The angels " veil their faces " 
before him. Moses trembled exceedingly, and 
quaked in his presence. " The hills melted 
like wax at the presence of the Lord." The 
Scriptures flash with expressions of the terri- 
bleness of his glory, but as the Poet says, 

" Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." 

Nadab and Abihu ventured to offer what 
was not commanded ; Korah, Dathan and 
Abiram tried to introduce new methods of 
worship ; Uzza and Uzziah attempted without 
warrant to do official service to God ; and these 
unwise, self-willed men became examples of 
warning — most impressive illustrations of God's 
jealousy in guarding his own service of praise. 

The Psalms passed triumphantly from the 
Old Dispensation to the New on the lips of 
Jesus. He closed the Economy of Sacrifices, 
and opened the Era of the Gospel, by singing a 
hymn, which is recognized by students of the 



134 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Bible as the 118th Psalm, the last of the Greater 
Hallel, sung at the Passover; and from them 
till now the Psalms have been the Gospel 
Psalter. 

Kurts, the eminent historian, records that 
the Psalms of the Bible were used in the early 
Christian Church; and the hymns of man 
were introduced by the Gnostics, Arians, Don- 
atists, and other errorists, to propagate their 
mischievous doctrines. He also relates that 
the great Council held in Laodicea, in 360 A.D., 
interdicted the use of unauthorized songs. 

Jerome, one of the Christian fathers, writes : — 
" You could not go into the fields, but you 
might hear the ploughman at his hallelujahs, 
and the vine-dresser chanting the Psalms of 
David." 

The Apostolic Constitution is a little book, 
written about the fourth century, which says : 
"The women, and children, and humblest 
mechanics could repeat all the Psalms of 
David ; they chanted them at home and 
abroad ; they made them the exercise of their 
piety, and the refreshment of their minds." 

Chrysostom, one of the Church's greatest 
scholars and orators, living in the early days 
of Christianity, leaves this testimony : " All 



DIVINE PSALMODY. 



135 



Christians employ themselves more in the 
Psalms of David than in any other part of the 
Old or New Testament. The grace of the 
Holy Spirit hath so ordered it, that they should 
be recited and sung day and night, in the 
Church's service, the first, the middle, and the 
last." 

During later centuries, the Psalms were the 
martial songs, which inspired the people of 
God to " fight the good fight of faith," and 
"endure hardness as soldiers of the cross," 
amidst scenes of blood, while the persecutor 
carried forward his nefarious work without 
hindrance. The Waldenses sung them " amid 
the Alpine snows, where the mountains lift up 
their glittering heads above the verdant val- 
leys, and in their awful grandeur impress the 
humble cottagers with the majesty of the great 
Creator." The music of the Psalms arose from 
the communicants assembled around the Lord's 
table under the shadows of Scotland's moun- 
tains; again, it was muffled and suppressed 
within the cold damp caves. But why multiply 
tributes and testimony ? The preciousness of 
the Psalter of God is its own tribute ; the fact 
that it survives is its own testimony. 

The Book of the Psalms is the very heart of 



136 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the Bible. And what a wonderful heart ! Liv- 
ing, throbbing, vigorous, beating with the 
healthy pulsations of spiritual life and human 
experience ; such is the heart God has given to 
his own Book. 

Athanasius calls the Psalms " The Epitome 
of the Whole Scriptures." Basil calls them a 
" Compendium of Theology." Luther calls 
them "A Little Bible." Melancthon calls 
them "The Most Eloquent Writing in the 
World." Caldwell, the commentator, has said: 
" In their descriptions of God, and nature, and 
man, they stand alone. They are not only a 
field of jewels, but a mine of wealth, and the 
deeper you dig, the richer the stores of trea- 
sures." His walks through them were to him 
as through a garden, where the farther you go, 
the richer the flowers become in fragrance and 
color. 

Such is the pure, complete, and infallible 
Book which God has given to his Church for 
the service of praise ; and the glory of the Book 
is Jesus, who is found everywhere among these 
lofty verses. Let it, therefore, be used without 
a rival by those who honor the Lord s wisdom 
in its appointment. 

The Psalter is marked with widest variation 



DIVINE PSALMODY. 



137 



of sentiment and expression. The whole 
breadth of human experience is vividly de- 
scribed. Each singer can find his own life 
most accurately depicted, his heart revealed, 
his sorrows expressed, his hopes anticipated, 
his prayers indited, and his joys set to music. 
" From the tones of sorrow^ and suffering which 
pervade their earlier portions, we are gradually 
borne on, amid alternate conflicts and triumphs, 
through mournful complaints into greatest 
confidence. As we approach the close, the 
tones of sorrow grow feebler, and those of 
praise wax louder and stronger, till, in the 
exulting strains of the last Psalm, the chorus 
of earth mingles with the Hallelujahs of the 
multitude, which no man can number, in the 
Sanctuary above." 



138 



THE COVENANTERS 



Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine 
eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the 
path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be estab- 
lished. Turn not to the right hand nor to the 
left ; remove thy foot from evil. — Proverbs 
iv : 25-27. 

The reason of their declining all discussion, 
and resorting to threats of violence, is manifest 
enough. It is sagacious in them to keep in 
the dark, and to awe people, if they can, by 
threats; because they have no argument, no 
history, no anything that can justify them in 
the course they take. Shame on an institution 
that resorts to such a defence as this ! But it 
cannot live where the press and speech are 
free ; and this its defenders know right well. — 
Rev. C. G. Finney, D. D. 



AND SECKET ORDERS. 



139 



Chapter XL 

THE COVENANTERS AND SECRET 
ORDERS, 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church has been 
uniformly opposed to oath-bound Secret Socie- 
ties. Her Testimony is explicit, her position 
decisive, and her practice unchanging, against 
all forms of such fraternities. 

The basis-term of her communion, " That 
the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments 
are the Word of God, and the only Rule of faith 
and manners," pledges her to such doctrines 
and principles as must eventually and com- 
pletely subvert and eradicate all these Orders 
from the social system. 

These societies are unlawful because of their 
secrecy. Their secrecy is not in any sense like 
the legitimate privacy that inheres to the indi- 
vidual and family relation, and which, when 
necessity requires, may be resorted to in the 
Church and State. This privacy is not essen- 
tial but prudential ; not compulsory, but leaves 
the conscience free to act in the interests of 
mankind on all occasions. 



140 



THE COVENANTERS 



The fraternities originate in secrecy ; they 
are built upon secrecy ; they are fortified by 
secrecy; they live, and move, and have their 
being in secrecy. To them, absolute, ever- 
binding, never-revealed, forever-concealed 
secrecy is essential ; secrecy guarded by pledge, 
and oath, and threat, and penalty, and officer. 
To disclose the secrets of the Lodge is the un- 
pardonable sin of any lodge-man. 

The Church, " built upon the foundation of 
the apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being 
the Chief Corner-Stone," is opposed to the very 
idea of secrecy. The apostle condemns it with 
the "works of darkness," and says that God 
will " bring to light the hidden things," and 
urges Christians, with all authority, to come 
out from among them and be separate. 

The Church acting in conformity with 
divine instructions, can have no more fellow- 
ship with secret societies, than light can have 
with darkness, or " Christ with Belial," or " he 
that believeth with an infidel." 

Many of these societies, also, are bound 
together by spurious and wicked oaths. These 
oaths are spurious, being without authority. 
The associations represent neither Church nor 



AND SECRET ORDERS. 



141 



State, and therefore, have no true authority to 
administer oaths. Their so-called oaths have 
no more validity than a similar farce entered 
into by one neighbor with another. High 
sounding titles, regalia, and pretentious cere- 
monies give no authority. 

Such oaths as are administered by some of the 
Orders are positively wicked, and can have no 
force with an enlightened conscience. They 
claim to bind the party to what he does not 
know ; perhaps, to what is positively contrary to 
the law of Christ. He swears in the dark, then 
opens his eyes to see what his oath means, and 
what his new obligations are. 

In the higher forms of secrecy the oath con- 
tains barbarous penalties. The penalty is at 
times no less than the horrid mutilation of the 
body of the man who would disown his false 
obligations. The true oath is a solemn act of 
religious worship, to be administered only by 
such as are clothed with lawful authority, and 
to be resorted to only in cases of imperative 
need. It is too serious and holy to be trifled 
with by unauthorized men for selfish, farcical, 
or unlawful purposes. The Moral Law forbids 
such swearing : " Thou shalt not take the 



142 



THE COVENANTERS 



name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord 
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his 
name in vain." 

Also, the charity claims of the Orders are 
deceptive and ensnaring. Charity means help 
for the poor. It is not a return of money 
received, or a benefaction to families of deceased 
persons who have paid all dues according to 
contract. This any honest Insurance company 
will do on business principles. Charity means 
more ; it is love, not business. It is favor to 
the poor without the expectation of pecuniary 
returns. " If ye do good to them which do 
good to you, what thank have ye." True 
charity cares for the lame, the halt, the blind, 
the cripple, the decrepid, the poor because they 
are poor, the helpless because they need help — 
the very classes ruled out by the laws of secret 
fraternities. 

The Covenanter Church opposes them most 
strongly, however, because of their professedly 
religious, yet essentially irreligious character. 

While many of the Orders are chiefly of a 
business character, yet in Masonry, the mother 
of secret fraternities, and whose spirit pervades 
them all, the profession of religion is conspic- 
uous and undeniable. Masonry engages in 



AND SECRET ORDERS. 



143 



religious ordinances and services. It holds 
the Bible prominent ; and while masonically 
cutting the name of Jesus out of the quota- 
tions used, it authoritatively calls the Book of 
God " The Great Light of Masonry." Another 
service of Masons in the Lodge is prayer, yet 
the name of Jesus is suppressed in the lodge- 
prayers by the laws recorded in their accepted 
manuals. They attach religious meaning to 
their symbols — the square, the compass, the 
gavel, the gauge, the level, the plumb, all being 
made to mean, in masonic language, sacred 
things. This system of darkness also claims 
to prepare men, as living stones, for " the 
house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." A society, that observes religious 
ordinances, symbolizes religion by its instru- 
ments, and proposes to take men to Heaven, 
must stand for a religion. And a religion 
which discards the name of Jesus as the 
Saviour, and mutilates the Word of God, must 
be both a rival and an antagonist of the Chris- 
tian religion. Men receive it as such, and 
assert that it is all the religion they want. 

The Covenanter Church opposes these Orders, 
because their religion is a fraud ; it is Christ- 
less ; it is an impious and perilous falsehood ; 



144 



THE COVENANTERS 



a decoy of souls, and an effrontery to Chris- 
tianity. This Church opposes them, because 
they are deceptive in their pretended charity, 
based upon selfishness, and crowned with 
worldly ambition. She opposes them, because 
they impose upon weak and uneducated con- 
sciences, oaths that are unscriptural and blas- 
phemous, being without a shadow of authority, 
yet awakening a spirit of terror, and pro- 
ducing a bondage of fear in the darkened 
mind. She opposes them because they are 
intrenched in darkness, the citadel of Satan 
the Prince of Darkness. They are unable to 
bear the light — the light of truth, which is 
God's own atmosphere in which He dwells, and 
in which He will have his people dwell. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church earn- 
estly and constantly testifies against all these 
features of the lodge system ; and with the 
help of the Lord, she will continue her protest, 
till this monstrous fabrication of conceit and 
deceit, this pyramid of pretentious greatness, 
with self for its base, and pride for its apex, 
shall be no more. By her laws and her prac- 
tice, she excludes their members from her 
communion. The obligations of darkness are 
inconsistent with the privileges of light ; the 



AND SECRET ORDERS. 



145 



pledges of the lodge cannot be sealed at the 
Lord's table ; the oath of the Fraternity and 
the oath of the Sacrament cannot hold well 
together in the same conscience. 

" And they overcame by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." 



146 



THE COVENANTERS 



Let us watch and be sober ; for they that 
sleep sleep in the night; and they that be 
drunken are drunken in the night. But let 
us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the 
breastplate of faith and love ; and for an hel- 
met, the hope of salvation. For God hath not 
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation 
by our Lord Jesus Christ. — I Thessalonians 
v: 6-9. 

By and by the triumph of this and of all 
great moral enterprises shall usher in the day 
of the final triumph of the Cross of Christ. I 
believe it, and for that I work ; and when I 
die, I pray God that I may die in the harness, 
battling for this, with the hope that there is a 
better day coming, and a prayer, " God Speed 
the Right " ! Ever praying, ever working, till 
victory shall perch upon our banners. Then 
we will lay pur laurels at His feet, and cast our 
crowns before Him, joining in the mighty 
anthem of praise to Him who hath subdued 
all things unto Himself. — John B. Gough. 



AND TEMPERANCE. 



147 



Chapter XII. 

THE COVENANTERS AND 
TEMPERANCE. 

Temperance is one of the cardinal virtues of 
Christianity. Without it, the body cannot 
become an agreeable home for the Holy Spirit 
to occupy. Without it, the heart is impure, 
the soul is diseased, the character is imperfect, 
to an alarming extent ; and grace is either 
altogether wanting or sadly deficient. 

The Covenanter Church has long waged war 
against intemperance, and with relentless spirit. 
She has never shown the flag of truce, nor pro- 
posed any compromise with this destroyer of 
homes and of souls. From the beginning of 
her struggle against drunkenness, her determi- 
nation has been to be free from the power of 
the saloon ; and then, with all who are on the 
side of purity and soberness, to pursue the evil 
till it shall disappear from the face of the 
earth. She has accomplished the first object, 
having won a glorious liberty for her people. 
This Church is free. In the name of her 
Divine Leader she has cast off the yoke, and 
cast out the demon, so that the rum trade 



148 



THE COVENANTERS 



cannot intimidate her courts, influence her 
pulpits, nor even touch her communicants, 
without rebuke. 

Within the present century, both the drink 
habit and the whiskey trade were found inside 
this little Church, overshadowing her honor 
and disturbing her peace. But by faithfulness 
in the pulpit, by discussions through the press, 
by the decisions of her courts, by the educa- 
tion of sentiment, by the enforcement of dis- 
cipline, by continuous and energetic effort, by 
the grace of her Lord, she grew strong to cast 
off this burden of bondage, and enter into 
" the liberty wherewith Christ makes his peo- 
ple free." Step by step, she pursued the work 
of cleansing the Sanctuary, by excluding from 
her communion, men who, in defiance of church 
law, were connected with the unholy business. 
They were not accounted worthy, whose hands 
were defiled with its criminality, or whose lips 
were polluted with its poison. Progressive 
measures were adopted whereby the people 
were nourished, educated, and unified, until 
they have become a communion of Total 
Abstainers, and Prohibitionists, with only such 
exceptions, as must be expected in all imper- 
fect society. The drinker has been reformed 



AND TEMPERANCE. 



149 



or excluded ; also the maker, the seller, the 
grower of material for the trade, and the owner 
of property in which the unrighteous business 
is conducted. All these, who w T ould not reform, 
have been excluded by the action of the 
Church's highest court, the judicial deliver- 
ances reaching grounds that were higher and 
higher till the summit was gained. 

All forms of license by the State have met 
w T ith Synod's most explicit disapprobation, 
as the legalizing of evil, and as participation in 
crime. All fermented wines for sacramental 
purposes have been placed under Synod's dis- 
approval. Even alcoholic medicines have been 
laid under a caution. 

But the Covenanter Church has not stopped 
with intoxicants. She has advanced to deal 
with narcotics. The tobacco habit has come 
under her censure. It has been exposed by 
the voice of her highest tribunal, as injurious 
to health, impairing the mental powers, offen- 
sively unclean, a waste of the Lord's goods, 
incurring the loss of self-respect, destructive of 
personal influence, degrading to the morals, 
and, at large, a public calamity. Sessions have 
been enjoined to ordain and install neither 
elder nor deacon who is defiled thereby. Pres- 



150 



THE COVENANTERS 



byteries have been instructed to forbear licens- 
ing candidates for the ministry of the Gospel, 
who continue to pollute the breath, the lips, 
the soul,, the character, the atmosphere, by 
gratifying this lust of the flesh. 

The official Testimony of the Covenanters, 
on the Temperance question, is an ensign wav- 
ing over a victorious field. As a branch of the 
Church of Christ, they having fought this battle 
in the strength of the Lord, and by his help 
having driven this enemy beyond their ecclesi- 
astical limits, let them ever ascribe the glory 
to their Deliverer. Thanks be to the Lord, who 
hath given us the victory ! Also the worthy 
fathers shall be remembered with gratitude, 
who threw themselves fearlessly into the con- 
flict, and, through much pain and difficulty, 
went forward to success and honor. 

Strong drink having been driven out of this 
Covenanted Zion by the power of truth and 
discipline, she is now neither under its lash, nor 
under its gold, nor under its disgrace, nor 
under its withering curse ; her communion 
vessels are defiled neither by the brewer's lips, 
nor the drunkard's hand, though an occasional 
case of indulgence may arise, as an effort of 
Satan to trip a soul. The whole Church is not 
in any way affected by the evil. 



AND TEMPERANCE. 



151 



This being an emancipated Church, the 
liquor traffic has no more power either to 
intimidate her pastors with threats, or exhila- 
rate them with promises concerning their sup- 
port. Every minister in her communion can 
denounce the iniquity ; can declare against the 
still, that distills the tears of wives and widows ; 
against the brewery, that brews the comforts of 
home into misery ; and against the cup, that is 
mingled with the blood of the lost-— every 
minister in the Church can do this, as the 
" ambassador of Christ," and not receive a 
frown from the pew. Yea, in this important 
service he will be sustained with all the up- 
lifting power found in the united sentiment of 
a temperance congregation. 

But the Covenanter Church does not con- 
sider her task yet finished. Herself delivered 
from the power, and saved from the havoc of 
the drink-trade, she seeks not rest. She is 
girded for work and warfare, in the interests 
of a common humanity. The world is groan- 
ing under the ruinous business; Christianity 
is disgraced by it ; many of the churches are 
overshadowed ; the National Government is 
incriminated ; humanity is outraged ; the God 
of Heaven is blasphemed ; the floodgates of 



152 



THE COVENANTERS 



vice are opened ; all crimes are multiplied. 
The moral progress of the world is retarded ; 
the wheels of reform are clogged with its 
wickedness, and deep in the slums of its dissi- 
pation ; through it they move with greatest 
difficulty. The cry of distress echoes around 
the world. The Covenanter Church hears the 
cry, and, in some measure of earnestness, 
responds. Her people are enlisted in this 
issue, on the side of God and humanity, and 
are under oath not to recede, but to strike as 
opportunity offers, till by the united effort of 
the friends of temperance, and under the 
leadership of King Jesus, the world shall be 
emancipated forever from the tyranny of the 
distillery and the lawlessness of the saloon ; and 
the ransomed homes of earth shall rejoice in the 
benign and peaceful reign of Righteousness. 

Then will the world enjoy what has been 
promised in the Psalm : 

" Surely to such as do him fear 
Salvation is at hand ; 
And glory shall ere long appear 
To dwell within our land. 

" Mercy and Truth that long were missed 
Now joyfully are met ; 
Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kissed, 
And haud iu haud are set. 



AND TEMPERANCE. 



153 



" Truth from the earth, like to a flower, 
Shall bud and blossom then ; 
And Justice from her heavenly bower 
Look down on mortal men. 

" The Lord will also then bestow 
Whatever thing is good ; 
Our laud shall forth in plenty throw 
Her fruits to be our food. 

i 'Before him righteousness shall go, 
His royal harbinger : 
Then will He come, and not too slow, 
His footsteps cannot err. 7 ' 

Milton's Yeesion. 




154 



THE COVENANTERS 



And other sheep I have, which are not of 
this fold : them also I must bring, and they 
shall hear my voice ; and there shall he one 
fold, and one Shepherd. — John x : 16. 

Christ's prayer for Christian union does not 
require the surrender of any essential point of 
belief, in order to effect a compromise of doc- 
trinal views, and thereby seek to remove all 
denominational distinctions. We are com- 
manded " to prove all things " ; a nd again 
to " hold fast the form of sound words 

IN FAITH AND LOVE, WHICH IS IN CHRIST 

Jesus." Union based upon the surrender of 
any essential evangelical doctrine, would be 
like the union of Pilate and Herod at the cru- 
cifixion of Jesus. The spirit of our Lord s 
petition, is, however, aimed against those sec- 
tarian prejudices and animosities, those ecclesi- 
astical strifes and divisions, those assumptions 
of Prelatical superiority and exclusive church 
polity, which have so often brought dishonor 
upon the religion of Christ, and which must 
all disappear before the era of truth and 
righteousness, (for which the disciples of Jesus 
are laboring, and praying), will be ushered in. — 
Rev. John J. Owen. D. D. 



AND CHURCH UNION. 



155 



Chapter XIII. 

THE COVENANTERS AND CHURCH 
UNION. 

Covenanters are deeply interested in the 
question of Church union. This is a favorite 
subject of thought and prayer with them. 
They have always maintained that the Church 
should be organically one. They are persuaded 
that the future will witness such a union. The 
prophets have prophesied it ; the Saviour has 
prayed for it ; the Holy Spirit is able to accom- 
plish it ; therefore, Covenanters have entered 
into most solemn bonds to assist in every law- 
ful way, to exalt the Church into this promised 
condition of peace, honor, and influence. 

The subscribers of the Solemn League and 
Covenant, two hundred and fifty years ago, 
were imbued with this thought and purpose, 
when they entered into an agreement, in the 
most earnest manner, that they would " en- 
deavor to bring the Churches of God in the 
three Kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and 
uniformity in Religion, Confession of Faith, 
Form of Church Government, Directory for 
Worship, and Catechising ; that we and our 



156 



THE COVENANTERS 



posterity after us, may, as brethren, live in 
faith and love, and the Lord may delight to 
dwell in the midst of us." 

Thus the obligation to work for the unity of 
the Church of Christ has descended upon 
Reformed Presbyterians with the strength of a 
holy Covenant ; also with the accumulated 
force of two and a half centuries of Christian 
liberty and progress. Our fathers honored the 
duty of promoting church unity, when the 
limit of their privileges permitted only three 
little kingdoms to come within their horizon. 
The obligation has grown since then, and is 
large enough now, to take the whole world into 
its bosom, as the Gospel, and education, and 
international law, and steam, and electricity, 
have bound continents and oceans together. 
Therefore, we, of this age, labor for the unity 
of the Church of Christ throughout the earth, 
and have imprinted this duty in our latest 
bond. This obligation is recognized in its 
universal length, and breadth, and fulness in 
the American Covenant. 

There is a real and spiritual oneness among 
all true Christians, notwithstanding differences 
of opinion and denominational lines. All 
are members of the same body, receiving life 



AND CHURCH UNION. 



157 



and glory from the same Exalted Head. This 
oneness ought to be recognized in every legiti- 
mate way, and made more visible by external 
unification. As the Church is one in spirit, so 
ought she to be one in appearance, in the pres- 
ence of the world. 

The spiritual unity alone is not sufficient to 
meet the requirement of the Scriptures. In- 
visible harmony is no satisfaction for visible 
dissensions. The vital bond of union in Christ 
may not be taken as a license to build sectarian 
walls for the enjoyment of undue liberty in 
belief and action. The Church was intended 
to be visibly, organically, universally ONE. 
She ought to be one : the time is approaching 
when she will be one. Divisions tell of sin. The 
divided condition of the Church is one of the 
greatest scandals. Nothing more seriously hin- 
ders the bringing of this world' to Jesus. 

The aim of all Christians, therefore, should 
be to remove the dividing lines and heal the 
divisions. This should never be dropped out 
of sight. By prayer, by conference, by coopera- 
tion in Gospel work, by the exercise of charity, 
and under the counsel and power of the Holy 
Spirit, all should labor to bring about this 
blessed result. Failure of effort, feelings of 



158 



THE COVENANTERS 



prejudice, denominational pride, past history, 
great distinctive truths, Reformation attain- 
ments, covenant obligations, none of these con- 
siderations should hinder for one moment, but 
rather, incessantly and mightily stimulate the 
people of God to strive for a United Church. 

This has ever been the purpose and course of 
Covenanters, however feeble their efforts, and 
exceedingly cautious their movements. Church 
union has received a large share of attention 
in their deliberations. Care, and prayer, and 
pains, and time, and brotherly discussion have 
always been given to the proposals for union 
coming from other branches of the Church. 

What shall be the model after which the 
United Church shall be patterned? The 
question is born of curiosity, and any descrip- 
tive answer might show the lack of wisdom. 
The reply would be mere speculation, if not 
presumption. We are not vain enough, how- 
ever, to believe that the accepted standards 
of the Reformed Presbyterian Church are 
unchangeable, nor that her methods shall be 
universally adopted. Yet when the day of 
shaking comes, as come it surely will, " that 
which cannot be shaken," in these symbols of 
truth, will remain. 



AND CHURCH UNION. 



159 



God can awaken public sentiment, sanctify 
Christian knowledge, and make the intelli- 
gence of the churches glow with holy fire, 
fanned by the breath of the Eternal Spirit ; 
and from such a furnace, He can run off the 
dross, and bring forth an instrument, pure, 
precious, and valuable — " as gold of the seventh 
refining " — the symbol of the unified Church. 
A union cannot reasonably be expected, nor a 
creed adopted, by the churches comparing, 
consulting, debating, and compiling, in delib- 
erate assemblies. An instrument of faith, pre- 
pared in such manner, must inevitably come 
out of the crucible of discussion, into which 
each church casts her jewels, like Aaron's 
golden calf, soon to be ground to powder. 

Our Covenants enjoin us to strive for the 
visible oneness of the Church in all the world 
on "the Basis of Truth and Scriptural Order." 
On no other basis can a union be permanent. 
In answer to believing prayer, in connection 
with faithful work, and in accordance with the 
intercession of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come 
in great effusion upon the divided Church, by 
which the differences will, doubtless, gradually 
melt away ; and, perhaps, almost before we are 
aware, we will come together. 



160 



THE COVENANTERS 



Until this, however, be granted, the duty of 
Christ's followers is to " walk in the light " 
which they have, still seeking more light. 
Let them be true to duty and conviction, as 
conscience guides, and the Word is understood. 
To be false to conviction, and to compromise 
with what we believe to be error, even to bring 
about such a grand project as the union of the 
churches, is to retard, and not advance, the 
work. 

For this reason, Covenanters continue to 
maintain their testimony; and, by dissemina- 
ting and applying the principles of truth 
herein professed, they labor to remove diffi- 
culties out of the way, and to gather into one, 
all the followers of Christ. Such at present is 
the path of duty, and following it, the light 
will increase. " The path of the just is as the 
shining light, that shineth more and more unto 
the perfect day." As light and obligations 
increase, may God give strength to do the 
right, leaving consequences entirely with him- 
self, who controls all events for the honor of 
his Church, and the glory of his name. 

As Alfred Cookman has beautifully written : 
" We believe in the Church of the future. We 
believe that the day is not far distant when the 



AND CHURCH UNION. 



161 



sacramental host, scattered all over the face of 
this creation, shall spring upon their feet, and 
seizing the harp of thanksgiving, they shall 
join in the chorus, that shall be responded to 
by the angels, 'One Lord, one faith, one bap- 
tism, one God and Father of us all, who is 
above all, and through all, and in us all, to 
whom be glory, and dominion, and majesty, 
and blessing forever ! 7 " 



162 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



And it came to pass, that when the gates of 
Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sab- 
bath, I commanded that the gates should be 
shut, and charged that they should not be 
opened till after the Sabbath ; and some of my 
servants set I at the gates, that there should 
no burden be brought in on the Sabbath 
day. — N ehemiah xiii : 19. 

The Sabbath under Christ is a universal 
partnership for the advancement of piety 
toward God, and of every interest of men that 
can flourish in the light of God's countenance. 

The Sabbath, the God-directed stream ! It 
found an opening through the hills — a de- 
serted Sepulchre marked the place — and it 
still flows on, not now a canal betwixt straight 
and rigid walls, but a river, and free — free to 
flow ; not free to stop. Shame on the Christian 
men who would stop it! With God's Word 
and God's Spirit in it, it is the nearest earthly 
symbol of the River of the Water of Life. Its 
fountain is the throne of God. Its waters, com- 
pared with other streams, are clear as crystal ; 
and on either side of it is the Tree of Life 
whose leaves are for the healing of the na- 
tions. — Rev. Hervey D. Ganse. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



163 



Chapter XIV. 
THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Church sets 
high value on the Christian Sabbath. She is 
deeply interested in the Sabbath question. 
The day of holy rest and divine worship 
has been assailed in public discussion, and 
Covenanters cannot be neutral. A great antag- 
onism is threatening this sacred institution, and 
no heart, loyal either to the Church or the State, 
can be passive. 

The Synod of the Covenanters annually 
appoints a committee to guard the interests of 
the Sabbath, to take note of new dangers that 
may arise, (Satan's insiduous temptations to 
ensnare souls), and to warn against the open 
violations also that draw, like a whirlpool, mul- 
titudes into the vortex of Sabbath desecration. 
Lifting up their voice, like a trumpet, they 
sound the alarm with certainty and emphasis 
in every note. 

This Church has a loving regard for the 
very name of the Rest-day, and calls it the Sab- 
bath. The Sabbath is the Scriptural name, 
selected by its Author, recorded in the Com- 
mandment, consecrated on the lips of Jesus, 



164 



THE COVENANTERS AXD 



and inscribed in the New Testament. This 
name is significant, both of the character of 
the day and the manner of its observance. 
The other term, " Sunday," frequently em- 
ployed, is of heathen origin, suggestive of 
nothing sacred, but of much that is secular 
and profane, and should be banished from 
Christian society, so far as it is used to desig- 
nate any thing connected with religious ser- 
vice. 

The Sabbath is of the Lord. God gave it to 
man for the benefit of all mankind. Hence 
this institution of holy rest is based upon the 
highest authority. The benefits resulting from 
the observance of the Sabbath, considered from 
a humanitarian point of view, are many and 
great ; yet neither Church nor State, without 
divine sanction, has the right to vest one day 
in seven with a superior sanctity, and to 
enforce its observance. The institution must 
rest upon God's appointment, or sink to the 
level of a legal holiday. Since God has dis- 
tinguished the Sabbath by his example, his 
blessing, and his commandment, neither the 
Church, the State, nor the individual, can with 
safety ignore it as a day of rest. Covenanters, 
admitting human reasons for the Sabbath, 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



165 



honor it as the Sabbath for one reason, and 
one only : — It is a: Divine Institution. This is 
both the basis and the climax of their argu- 
ment. The weekly rest is founded, not on 
desirability, nor expediency, nor necessity, but 
on God's example and on his command. 

The Sabbath is a day for the suspension of 
toil. God, " in the beginning," gave an 
object lesson on Sabbath-keeping. Through 
six creative days He wrought, and on the 
seventh day He rested. A second lesson was 
•given in man's constitution, written on his 
fibre and bone, as well as on his heart. A 
third lesson was chiseled into the Table of stone. 
All these teachings enjoin the cessation of 
labor <on the Sabbath day. Work must cease 
through all its hours. As the Sabbath comes 
in its weekly journey of mercy, it authorizes 
man to cease from his labor and enter into 
rest. Laying its hand upon the swollen 
streams of earthly care, like the hand of Omni- 
potence on the Jordan, it holds the waters 
back all the day long. The Law saith, " In 
it thou shalt not do any work." Beyond 
works of necessity and mercy, all labor on the 
Sabbath is in violation of the law of the Sab- 
bath. Covenanters recognize both the personal 



166 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



duty of resting on the Lord's day, and the neces- 
sity of withdrawing from all business and corpo- 
rations that violate the Sabbath. Synod has 
" earnestly protested against such modern 
forms of Sabbath violation as advertising in, 
and reading of, newspapers issued on that day ; 
preparing or receiving mail on the Sabbath ; 
holding stock in Sabbath-breaking corporations; 
receiving or selling milk on Sabbath, or engag- 
ing in any other business that will interfere 
with the proper observance of the Lord's Day." 

Release from work is to prepare the way for 
worship. Idleness is not Sabbath-keeping. 
Pleasure-seeking is not fulfilling the fourth 
commandment. Relaxation of the physical 
powers must not degenerate into dissipation of 
the moral powers, or neglect of the spiritual 
powers. Even church members are in danger 
of reducing the sacredness of the Sabbath to 
levity, and changing the divine use to self- 
enjoyment. The world is full of attractions, 
" subtle, facinating, gilded temptations," amuse- 
ments innocent in themselves on other days : 
and multitudes swing loose from toil, only to 
drift into unwarranted and unspiritual pleas- 
ures Thus the day is not honored ; God is 
not worshiped ; the soul is not elevated : the 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



167 



heart is not strengthened ; the countenance is 
not illuminated by standing in the presence of 
the Lord and looking upon the brightness of 
the Person, by whom " we are changed from 
glory to glory." Even this milder form of 
Sabbath profanation Covenanters condemn, 
and endeavor to avoid, having declared against 
"pleasure-driving and social visiting, taking 
part in meetings which are in whole or in 
part of secular or doubtful religious character, 
attendance at concerts which differ only in 
name from the ordinary musical entertain- 
ments of the week." 

The Sabbath was ordained also for w T orship. It 
conveys tw T o great blessings to man, — the priv- 
ilege of rest and of praise. These are the " sil- 
very wings " of this dove of peace, that hovers 
over our earth w^ith a benediction for every 
one who will look up and receive. The Sab- 
bath comes to anoint the soul with new strength, 
and lead it into the presence of God, to worship 
the Creator of heaven and earth. It comes as 
the shadow of Jesus, whose memorial it is, and 
his people can sit in the pleasant shade, to 
be regaled with the cool and balmy winds, 
which subdue the fever arising from protracted 
toil. The day is well spent, only when it is 



168 THE COVENANTERS AND 



given back to God in holy services. This is 
rest. We worship that we may rest. The holy 
use of the Sabbath, by the active employment of 
our spiritual powers, is the best rest for both 
body and soul. Change of employment brings 
the perfect rest. To lift up the mind in con- 
templation of the divine, the heavenly, the 
eternal, and to assume the attitude of devo- 
tion — this is for most people the greatest possi- 
ble change, and therefore, the greatest possible 
rest. Hence Covenanters have written in their 
Testimony, (and try to practice what they 
write) : " The whole day is to be employed 
exclusively in the public and private exercises 
of God's worship, except so much of it as may 
be taken up in the works of necessity and 
mercy." 

The Church is the guardian of the morals, 
as well as the nourisher of the souls of her 
members. She is, therefore, responsible, 
through her officers and courts, for the 
manner in which the Sabbath is observed by 
all within her bounds. She is recreant to 
duty, if she permits her members to enjoy secu- 
lar pleasures, or participate in ordinary busi- 
ness, on the Lord's Day. Realizing this respon- 
sibility, the Covenanter Synod, with the author- 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



169 



ity vested by the Author of the holy day, 
has delivered the decree : " That Christian pro- 
fessors free themselves from participation in 
Sabbath-breaking, and a more rigid discipline 
be maintained in all the congregations ; that 
all recreation, business, travel on the Lord's 
Day be restrained; and that the capital of 
church members be not employed in Sabbath- 
breaking institutions." 

The State also carries responsibility concern- 
ing the Christian Sabbath, for the Sabbath is 
needed, likewise, in the political sphere. It 
makes its appearance in the domain of politics 
as well as in the home and in the Church. 
Fifty -two times in the year the Government in 
all its departments is brought face to face with 
the Sabbath, and must, in a practical manner, 
answer the question as to its observance. A 
man with enlightened conscience, employed in 
the civil service, cannot enjoy his God-given 
rights, unless the government machinery rest 
on the Sabbath. Civil government should be so 
constituted, that a Christian can fill any official 
position without violating conscience and the 
Moral Law. But how can he, if compelled to 
serve on the Sabbath ? Nothing destroys a 
nation more surely than immorality ; nothing 



170 



THE 



COVENANTERS 



AND 



increases immorality more speedily than Sab- 
bath-breaking ; nothing encourages Sabbath- 
breaking more effectively than the example of 
the Government penetrating every part of the 
country with Postal Laws and Postal Service 
that ignore the Lord's Law and Day. There- 
fore has the Covenanted Church " lifted up her 
testimony against this great national evil of 
Sabbath desecration, imperilling the exist- 
ence of the nation." 

The importance of the Sabbath, also its im- 
perilment and defence, are awakening public 
attention. Many regard it as the central pil- 
lar of Christianity, against which the powers 
of Atheism, Infidelitjr, Socialism, and AYorldli- 
ness, are rallying. Others consider it essen- 
tial to the prosperity and perpetuity of our 
great Republic, and are grieved to see it 
assailed by those who would both break down 
the " carved work " of Christian civilization, 
and overturn the foundation of the American 
Government. Therefore, Christians and pa- 
triots are rising up to repel the assault. The 
members of this Church are by their Covenants 
enrolled in the ranks of its defenders, and 
pledged to use unceasing efforts to save the 
Sabbath from its foes. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



171 



Dangers are gathering around the Sabbath. 
Great corporations wield tremendous force 
against the day of rest ; the influx of foreign 
population darkens and defiles its sacredness ; 
the Federal Government with its seven days' 
Postal Service educates in Sabbath desecration. 
If the day be rescued from such perils, if it be 
secured with its many blessings for our country 
and our posterity, if it be perpetuated in our 
land as a sign of the favor of God, it will be 
by the prompt and resolute action of Christian 
people. The crisis has called forth several 
Covenanted ministers to the front, to give 
their full' time and strength, urging the claims 
of the Sabbath upon the attention of the 
public, 

The Sabbath belongs to the human family 
as the inalienable right and inestimable heri- 
tage of every person. It comes in its weekly 
circuit around the world, showering blessings, 
free and fresh, and precious as the morning 
light. With loving hands it unbinds the bands 
of toil, and wipes away the drops of sweat, and 
bids the laborer enter into rest; it lifts the 
mind above corrosive cares, and sets it on the 
high places of holy contemplation ; it releases 



172 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the soul from the pursuits of the world, and 
gives liberty to walk through the Eden of 
sacred ordinances, and hold loving fellowship 
with its Lord on " the mountains of myrrh and 
the hills of frankincense." 

The Sabbath comes to man, sweet with the 
fragrance of the spiritual world, laden with 
the fruits that nourish unto eternal life, yield- 
ing true satisfaction to the human heart. It 
comes with its inspiring memories, its heavenly 
melodies, and its exalted services, renewing the 
care-worn visage, smoothing the furrowed brow, 
and giving a fore-taste of the joys, the peace- 
fulness, and the exaltation of the life that is in 
Heaven. 0 precious Sabbath ! God's great 
gift to man; man's much-slighted, yet ever- 
returning, Friend; earth's loving Benefactor, 
taking humanity, as a mother her child, into a 
warm bosom, and kissing away the tears and 
cares ! The Sabbath, the weekly wave of celes- 
tial blessedness passing around our globe, 
God's life-giving benediction resting upon our 
race, the diadem that adorns the week, and 
crowns the venerable head of time ! The Sab- 
bath, the high, bright shaft, the monument 
whiter than marble and more enduring than 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 



173 



granite, with its base in the shadows of the 
empty Sepulchre, and its summit crested with 
Heaven's glory, inscribed on the one side, 

" He is not here ; He is risen ; " 

and on the other, 

" Unto them that look for Him shall He 

APPEAR." 

0 that the world w ould appreciate the Lord's 
Day, and enter into the full enjoyment of the 
Christian Sabbath ! 



174 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



And the seventh angel sounded ; and there 
were great voices in heaven, saying, The 
kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
doms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he 
shall reign for ever and ever. And the four 
and twenty elders, which sat before God on 
their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped 
God, saying, We give thee thanks, 0 Lord God 
Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to 
come ; because thou hast taken to thee thy 
great power, and hast reigned. — Revelation 
xi : 15-17. 

He saw his All-conquering Prince gird on 
his resistless sword, am*/v himself in glory and 
majest}^, ascend the chariot of his Gospel, dis- 
play the banner of his cross, and ride forth, as 
on the wings of the wind, while the tremen- 
dous voice of a herald, proclaimed before Him, 
" Prepare ye the way of the Lord." — Rev. 
Edward Payson. 

Earth, thou grain of sand on the shore of 
the universe of God, thou art, and remainest, 
the Loved One amongst ten thousand suns and 
worlds, the Chosen of God ! Thee will He 
again visit, and then thou wilt prepare a throne 
for him, as thou gavest him a manger cradle ; 
in his radiant glory wilt thou rejoice, as thou 
didst once drink his blood and his tears, and 
mourn his death ! On thee has the Lord a 
great work to complete. — Rev. C. Geike, D.D. 



NATIONAL REFORM. 



175 



Chapter XV. 
NATIONAL REFORM. 

The Covenanter Church stands decisively 
committed to the cause of National Reform. 
Her history, her principles, her covenants, all 
connect her with the great enterprise of remodel- 
ing the nations after the pattern of righteous- 
ness, according to the Law of God. By long 
education her people have grasped the idea of 
a Christian nation — the prophetic idea of a 
nation whose God is the Lord ; and they 
tenaciously retain that grand conception, the 
conception of what the political powers of 
earth will yet become, unless the Scriptures 
fail in their fulfilment. According to their 
strength, they also hold up that standard befo]^ 
the nation, and labor, in connection with other 
Christian people, to elevate civil society to this 
exalted position. 

Reformed Presbyterians believe that nations 
are moral persons, responsible to Prince Mes- 
siah, the Ruler of nations. They believe that 
God holds nations strictly accountable for the 
Constitution upon which they establish govern- 
ment, and for the administration of civil 



176 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



power. Therefore, they labor and pray to bring 
the nation into allegiance to the great Gov- 
ernor. 

The nation that opposes God and contemns 
his authority occupies dangerous ground. 
However strong her armies, navies, and fort- 
resses, she must face about by reformation, or 
at last go down under the retributive judg- 
ments of the Almighty. Neglect of the royal 
claims of Christ, and indifference to his re- 
vealed law, may seem to be neutral ground, 
and, therefore, not so perilous. Neutral ? No 
neutrality here. The position is at least under 
the fringe of the same cloud of retribution, 
and overshadowed w T ith the same judicial dis- 
pleasure. The reform may be easier, the way 
of escape plainer, the glorious possibilities more 
convenient, yet to repent, and honor the law 
of God is the only way of safety. Reformed 
Presbyterians are earnestly helping in the 
work of bringing this Republic into right rela- 
tion with the Ruler of the heavens and of the 
nations. 

The acknowledgment of God, and the hon- 
oring of Christ, by entering into public cove- 
nant with him, is a most notable deed. None 
more worthy can be performed by civil society ; 



NATIONAL REFORM. 



177 



no service more famous can be rendered by any 
people to their country. It will also contribute 
unspeakably to the prosperity, the security, and 
the perpetuity of the nation. This is what 
national reformers are endeavoring to do. 

The Covenanter Church keeps constantly in 
view the ideal Christian nation, and the high 
standard of public morality, justice, temper- 
ance, intelligence and religion, whither is the 
trend of the nations. Though the movement 
be slow, yet is it sure ; though the goal be dis- 
tant, yet shall it be reached. The Prophets 
have described the future condition of nations 
in glowing terms ; the Gospel is penetrating 
universal society with the principles which shall 
exalt them ; Providence is applying great moral 
forces upon them ; the arms of Omnipotence 
are underneath to uplift and uphold them. 
The nations shall yet be elevated into right- 
eousness and peace. 

Listen to the voice of unfailing prophecy : — 
" And He shall judge among the nations, and 
shall rebuke many people : and they shall beat 
their swords into plowshares, and their spears 
into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn 
war any more." "They shall not hurt nor 



178 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



destroy in all my holy mountain : for the earth 
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
the waters cover the sea. And in that day 
there shall be a Root of Jesse, which shall stand 
for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the Gen- 
tiles seek : and his rest shall be glorious." 

The work of National Reform absorbs much 
energy of the Covenanter Church. The atten- 
tion and prayers, the pulpit and press, the 
silver and gold of her people are applied in 
this direction, wdth some measure of zeal. 
Their labor in this field is one method by which 
they demonstrate love to country and devotion 
to God, as patriotism and religion blend together 
in the same heart. 

Covenanters are aroused as they behold great 
evils preying upon the nation's vitals — intem- 
perance, Sabbath desecration, oath-bound se- 
crecy, and the spirit and work of secularism — 
which are a reproach to any people. That our 
Republic may be saved from these monster 
wrongs, Covenanters, in conjunction with others 
of the same aim, urge forward the work of 
National Reformation. They know that the 
displeasure of God must inevitably grow heav- 
ier, while the sins of the nation are increased 
and protracted, in the face of remonstrance and 



NATIONAL REFORM. 



179 



in the light of the Gospel. They see a cloud of 
wrath deepening and darkening, with a storm 
in its bosom, that will make the land tremble, 
if it be shaken out upon us. That this nation 
may escape the impending vengeance, Cove- 
nanters labor in this work. 

They comprehend the possibility of national 
progress in morality, religion, education, 
temperance, and every thing that enters into 
the strength, happiness, and prosperity of our 
country, and therefore they pray and work 
for the success of this cause. They are persua- 
ded of its final success. They wander not 
amidst empty visions. They are not follow- 
ing vain dreams ; the conception shall be 
evolved into a glorious reality ; for the concep- 
tion originated in the mind of God, and his 
power shall realize it. The cause of National 
Reform carries within itself the assurance of 
triumph. 

The Covenanter Church, in connection with 
all who are moved by the same purpose, con- 
ceives it to be duty, to employ her strength in 
holding up the glorious ensign for the nations, 
which is inscribed with the royal prerogatives 
of Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, " unto whom 
shall the gathering of the people be." Her 



180 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



pulpit, when loyal, proclaims without fear or 
uncertainty, the truths that honor the great 
King, and by which nations, as well as souls, 
shall be redeemed. Moreover, she has by 
special commission, sent forth for several years, 
four of her ministers to spend all or part of 
their time, in heralding the moral principles 
of reformation, and in setting before the nation 
life and death, blessing and cursing, one of 
w T hich is inevitable. Other ministers also give 
much time and labor in the use of the press, 
holding conventions, and addressing the pub- 
lic. A cash contribution is annually presented 
by the congregations, in accordance with the 
action of Synod, to be applied to this work. 

National Reform may seem to belong to the 
sphere of the State, and to be beyond the care 
of the Church. No one will deny that it is a 
national work ; yet it is also an evangelical 
work, a missionary work, a work for the salva- 
tion of souls. It aims at the removal of public 
evils, which are a blot upon the fair face of 
Christianity, evils that hinder and intimidate 
the churches, evils that corrupt the morals 
and blunt the conscience of society. National 
Reform endeavors to stop the fountains that 
pour down through the land, carrying multi- 



NATIONAL REFORM. 



181 



tudes of victims into destruction ; broad, swirl- 
ing, seething torrents of iniquity in which 
uncounted crowds perish. It proposes to put 
an end to the wholesale dissipation and de- 
struction of soul and body. The ordinary 
methods of evangelists and missionaries, com- 
pared with the design of national reformers, 
are like snatching a few valuables out of a burn- 
ing dwelling, rather than putting out the fire 
and saving all. When this cause shall pre- 
vail, (and prevail it will,) missionary effort will 
move along at high tide, and not, as now, be 
drifted upon the shores by adverse winds. 

Let others stand along the streams of public 
vice and national sin, and drag out the victims 
one by one ; we will stand with them and do 
likewise. Heaven forbid that even this slow 
method of salvation should have a weaker 
heart or feebler hand in us than in others. 
Yet will we not cease the effort to dry up these 
streams, by cutting off the head waters, streams 
which by the help of God shall yet cease to 
flow. 



182 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
established in the top of the mountains, and 
shall be exalted above the hills ; and all 
nations shall flow unto it. And many people 
shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to 
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the 
God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his 
ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out 
of Zion shall go forth the law, and the 
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. — Isaiah 
ii : 2-3. 

When Rev. Thomas Coke, L.L.D., proposed 
to go to India at his own expense, and there 
establish Wesleyan missions, a friend remon- 
strated with him, he being then nearly seventy 
years old. The missionary replied : " I am now 
dead to Europe, and alive for India. God 
himself has said to me, ' Go to Ceylon !' I 
w r ould rather be set naked on its coast, and 
without a friend, than not to go." 



GOSPEL MISSIONS. 



183 



Chapter XVI. 
GOSPEL MISSIONS. 

The Covenanters are doing mission work in 
Syria, Asia Minor, and Cyprus ; also among 
the Freedmen, the Indians, and the Chinese 
in America. The Central Board, besides, cul- 
tivates mission stations in St. Louis, Topeka, 
Denver, Seattle, and several other places. 

The Syrian Mission. 

The Syrian Mission has Latakiyeh as its 
centre. This field includes three districts, 
Latakiyeh, Nusaria, and Suadea. Three con- 
gregations have been organized, with an 
aggregate of about two hundred members. 
The present working force consists of two or- 
dained ministers, one physician, three lady 
teachers, four native licentiates, a city colpor- 
teur, and a strong band of instructors. The 
buildings are substantial and commodious, 
being well-fitted for day-school, boarding- 
school, industrial school, Sabbath-school, and 
for public worship. There is a large num- 
ber of Sabbath-schools in the city and the sur- 



184 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



rounding districts, in which more than five 
hundred children are instructed in the faith of 
Christ. 

The physician conducts a clinic department 
in connection with his practice, in which, 
while he ministers to the relief of the body, he 
also teaches the way of salvation through Jesus 
Christ. 

The Asia Minor Mission. 

The work in Asia Minor, although much 
more recently established, is also in thorough 
order. This field is made romantic by the 
footprints of Paul and other Apostles of our 
Lord. It was the country of the seven churches 
to which Christ addressed his famous messages 
from Patmos. 

In this Mission there are two ordained min- 
isters, (one of whom is also a physician), and 
three lady teachers. Boarding-schools and 
day-schools are in successful operation. The 
teachers are aided in their work by intelligent 
and devoted natives, some of whom have much 
of the evangelistic spirit, evincing zeal in bring- 
ing others to the Saviour. The City of Mersine 
is the home of the missionaries and the centre 



GOSPEL MISSIONS. 



185 



of operations. Several Sabbath-schools are 
doing excellent work. New schools are being 
frequently reported. Fifty communicants are 
registered. 

The Cyprus Mission. 

This new Mission shows Covenanter enter- 
prise. The little Church of the Covenants is 
pushing her work in all directions, depending 
on the resources that are not seen, as well as 
those which are seen ; working both by faith 
and by sight, assured that God is able to 
" make all things work together " for the re- 
demption of souls and the glory of his name. 

The island of Cyprus contains about two 
hundred thousand people, who mostly speak 
the Modern Greek. No other Protestant mis- 
sion is on the island. Cyprus is under British 
rule, which fact warrants the hope that both 
work and workers will be protected from Turk- 
ish annoyance. The missionary and his wife 
are already there; the buildings are under 
contract ; the material is iron, to be shipped 
from London. Every thing indicates a 
quick and prosperous beginning of the Lord's 
work in this historic isle, where the new con- 
vert Saul was first called Paul. 



186 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The Chinese Mission. 

The Mission among the Chinese is estab- 
lished in Oakland, California. It has the ser- 
vices of one ordained minister, with such assist- 
ance in interpreting and teaching as he can 
secure. A school is doing good work, and the 
Word is regularly preached to an attentive 
audience. Some of the hearers having come 
from China in search of perishable wealth, 
have already returned to their native land, 
with hearts rejoicing in the Divine Saviour. 
They have discovered that there is a Celestial 
Kingdom better than their Celestial Empire. 
To their countrymen they tell the glad news of 
salvation. About forty in this field have been 
reported as embracing the Christian religion. 

The Southern Mission. 

The Southern Mission has its centre at 
Selma, Alabama. It includes also Pleasant 
Grove ; and until recently Brierfield was under 
cultivation. There is in Selma Mission a fine 
church building with a congregation number- 
ing about seventy-five ; the Sabbath-school is 
large. An excellent graded day-school is also 



GOSPEL MISSIONS. 



187 



established and well-equipped for thorough 
work, having a superintendent and six teach- 
ers. The whole course of instruction is richly 
interspersed with religious truth. A broad 
basis has thus been laid for permanent and 
successful work. 

The Indian Mission. 

The Indian Mission has been but recently 
established. It is located near Fort Sill, In- 
dian Territory. It has been intended chiefly 
for the benefit of the Comanche tribe, which 
has been hitherto without the Gospel. The 
working force consists of one ordained minis- 
ter, two lady teachers, a matron, and a farmer 
who attends to the agricultural interests of the 
mission. The United States Government hav- 
ing conveyed for mission purposes a tract 01 
one hundred and sixty acres of land to the 
Church, this is being placed under cultivation 
for the benefit of the mission. A stone build- 
ing, beautiful and substantial, has been erected 
and furnished for the school, and is already 
filled with the red children of the prairies. A 
commodious dwelling will soon be complete, 
which will afford shelter and comfort to the 
devoted pioneers of this mission. 



188 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



This brief review of the mission work under 
the care of the Covenanter Church gives only 
an imperfect conception of what she is doing 
along this line of duty. Compared with other 
larger churches, the showing may be no dis- 
credit ; but when we think of our ability, and 
privilege, and opportunity, we have nothing 
whereof to boast, but much cause to be hum- 
ble. We might be doing more. May God 
lead along these lines of service, and into new 
fields, making every effort successful for his 
glory, and the redemption of souls. 

TTe live when everybody is our neighbor. 
The world has become one community. The 
unenlightened parts are all accessible. The 
missionaries of the various churches are mov- 
ing forward. Nothing hinders. The highway 
of the King is prepared. The kingdoms no 
more resist ; the gates of the cities are opened. 
May the k "' bannered host " move onward as the 
Commander gives orders ! And in the great 
work may this church not be behind ! 

On one occasion God said, " Speak unto the 
children of Israel that they go forward What 
motion, what magnetism, what enthusiasm, that 
command sent through all the camp of Israel ! 
How firm the step, how strong the heart, how 



GOSPEL MISSIONS. 



189 



radiant the face of each, as they obeyed ! God 
says now to his ministers, " Speak to the people 
that they go forward ! " His voice comes to us 
from the hills of Syria, and echoes from the 
rocks of the Pacific, and rolls, as thunder, along 
the plains of the South and the West. And as 
it comes in the fulness of divine majesty, how 
it should stir this little tribe in Israel ! How 
it should awaken every family, and every per- 
son, and start them forward with zeal and 
strength in mission work ! 



190 THE COVENANTEES AND 

Ye are the salt of the earth : but if the salt 
have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be 
salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, 
but to be cast out, and to be trodden under 
foot of men. — Matthew v : 13. 

And he said unto them, Go ye also into the 
vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give 
you. And they went their way. Again he 
went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and 
did likewise. And about the eleventh hour 
he went out, and found others standing idle, 
and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all 
the day idle ? — Matthew xx : 4-6. 

The voice of our ministry should be heard 
outside of our pulpits. 

Congregations, where there are ability and 
opportunity, ought to employ public lay work- 
ers, men and women, in missionary labor. 

The whole membership of the Church ought 
to work. Too long the burden of work has 
been rolled on the shoulders of the ministry, and 
the few who are willing to spend and to be 
spent for Christ. — Reformed Presbyterian 
Synod. 



EVANGELISTIC WORK. 



191 



Chapter XVII. 
EVANGELISTIC WORK. 

The importance of evangelistic work cannot 
be too highly estimated. Evangelizing the 
vicinity around the church is a service to God 
and humanity which brings rich recompense. 
Labor in any lawful calling is noble; in this, 
it is divine. This is the field where Christ 
hires all laborers who will come, and He 
hires at all hours of the day. 

The Covenanter Church cannot lay claim to 
prominence in this department of Christian 
effort. Evidently evangelistic work has not 
been her chosen field. Remissness here may 
be justly confessed. While she has endeavored 
to meet the claims of the Gospel in other quar- 
ters, she has been deficient in this direction. 
She has wrought in the home vineyard ; she 
has occupied mission territory ; she has labored 
in national reform ; she has bestowed atten- 
tion and treasure upon education ; but the 
evangelization of the parts of the world that 
are under her shadow has been neglected. 
Neglected ? Not altogether, but to an alarm- 
ing extent. This thing we " ought to have 
done, and not to leave the other undone." 



192 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The Church, however, is waking up to a 
sense of duty. Synod has taken action. Pres- 
byteries have been stirred. Congregations 
have felt a glow of new life in the very act of 
putting forth the first effort. Societies of young 
people have been formed, whose committees 
reach the community with Gospel instructions 
and services of love. The Holy Spirit has 
manifestly breathed an infusion of new life 
and power into the Church, to qualify her for 
the work of evangelizing. 

If the Covenanter Church would be like 
the Primitive Church, or like the Reformation 
Church, she must not only hold Gospel princi- 
ples, but press them upon society. She must 
not only possess grace, but be profuse in the 
use of it. The Church is " an army with ban- 
ners," not intended to lie in intrenchments 
around the arsenal, but to move forward to 
liberate souls from the bondage of sin. She is 
more than the lily of the valley to shed soft 
perfume where she grows; she has alabaster 
jars to break in the houses of the lepers, to 
make the places of sin fragrant with Christ's 
consolations. She has more to do than heal 
the withered hands of those who come into 
the house of worship; she has business in the 



EVANGELISTIC WORK. 



193 



wild places of the robbers, rescuing the fallen, 
and pouring oil on their wounds. Happy is the 
church that comprehends and honors her 
great mission in the world. 

Evangelistic work ! What is it, but the 
Church obeying the command, " Arise, shine ; 
for thy light is come, and the glory of the 
Lord is risen upon thee !" What is it, but 
shaking off the dust of sloth, and putting on 
the " beautiful garments " of salvation ! What 
is it, but putting on the Lord Jesus, entering 
into his work, into his Spirit, into himself, and 
appearing before the world in his noble char- 
acter ! 

Synod has seen the necessity of this work, 
and urges it upon the people. Foreign popu- 
lation is crowding around us ; our cities are 
thronged with the unenlightened ; our country 
is penetrated by the same classes. The natural 
crop, also, of atheism, infidelity, immorality, 
and all kinds of vice, is growing in our native 
soil; and if the good seed be not choked to 
death, Christians must work, every church must 
work, and each member in his place must be 
active. It is not sufficient to protect " our sons 
as plants, and our daughters as corner-stones, 
polished after the similitude of a palace." 



194 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Duty takes a wider range, and so must the 
service, if the Church even retains her present 
size, and holds the ground she now occupies. 

Synod urges the work with vehemence, in- 
sisting that " true|Christianity demands it. The 
natural impulses of the new heart prompt it. 
Love to God and man, which is of the essence 
of true religion, requires it. If we have not 
that spirit, it is because we lack in some of the 
elements of Christian life. How can we be 
Christians and not be evangelistic ? How can 
our Church, with all its love for Christ, with 
all its zeal for his glory, with all its loyalty to 
his claims, with all its noble legacy of divine 
truth, be else than evangelistic? If we be 
a strong, happy, successful Church, we must be 
a working Church. ' Better be a little brook 
than a stagnant pool/ " 

A Synodical committee has been appointed 
annually for a number of years to collect facts, 
to indicate methods and means, and to stimu- 
late the entire membership, if by the grace of 
God we may become a Church of evangelists. 
Opportunities for work in this field arise on all 
sides. Some congregations may be established 
on the borders of Beulah land, where none of 
the unevangelized tread ; but they are few. 



EVANGELISTIC WORK. 



195 



Where is the pastor who may not lift up his 
eyes, and behold the field ripe and ready to 
harvest at his very door ; and the field is con- 
tinually widening. 

The reward is in the work. The labor itself 
is payment. The work contains two blessings, 
one for the evangelist, the other for the evan- 
gelized ; the greater for the former, the lesser 
for the latter. " It is more blessed to give than 
to receive," even when the gift is salvation. 
There is joy in the work ; there is new life in 
it; there is growing power in it; there is ele- 
vation of soul in it ; there is nobleness of char- 
acter in it ; there is a glorious transformation 
of the worker in it. They who are employed 
in this service discover that they have found 
the mission of life. " The Christian who 
gladly gives his shoulder to this burden, finds 
his burden carrying him, and he mounts up with 
wings as eagles, he shall run and not be weary, 
he shall walk and not faint, ' They that turn 
many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars 
for ever and ever.' " May the Holy Spirit give 
us a Pentecost, sending fulness of spiritual life 
throbbing through all our members, families, 
congregations, sessions, presbyteries, and synod, 
that the work of Christ among the heathen at 
our door may be done. 



196 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



But this I say, He which soweth sparingly 
shall reap also sparingly ; and he which soweth 
bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every 
man according as he purposeth in his heart, 
so let him give ; not grudgingly, or of neces- 
sity : for God loveth a cheerful giver. And 
God is able to make all grace abound toward 
you ; that ye, always having all sufficiency in 
all things, may abound to every good work. — 
II Corinthians, ix : 6-8. 

The Church needs to-day an awakening and 
a revival on the subject of systematic, con- 
scientious, spiritual and worshipful giving. It 
must understand that giving is the law of the 
fountain-life. What is grace but giving ? 
God's grace — God's gifts ! God's grace in us- — 
the giving of ourselves, the giving of our 
powers, the giving of our all to humanity — 
Rev. J. H. Vincent, D.D. 

u Give, give, be always giving, — 
Who gives not is not living ; 
The more you give, 
The more you live.'' 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 



197 



Chapter XVIII. 

SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 

The Church ought to have system in her 
work. Method is beautiful everywhere. Suc- 
cess depends largely on good methods and 
their judicious application ; especially is this 
true concerning the financial interests of the 
Church. 

God enjoins on his people the duty of sys- 
tematic beneficence. He is " not the author of 
confusion," but has commanded that " all 
things be done decently and in order." 

The Church is sustained by the voluntary 
contributions of her members, each person 
using discretionary power, as to the amount 
given, the manner of giving, and the object of 
the gift. The Church herself exists by the 
free grace of God ; her spiritual dowry is the 
free gift of the Lord Jesus Christ; her pecuni- 
ary support is also free — the freewill offering of 
her members. Men, however, have taken 
unjust advantage of this freewill right, adopt- 
ing many standards of duty and methods of 
action, in sustaining the Church : but the true 
standard is of God. 



198 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Free beneficence is the only tree whose fruit 
can properly support the Church. Beneficence 
is a grace full of tender life. It cannot exist 
under the hand of compulsion ; it withers under 
the breath of extortion ; even too much per- 
suasion hurts it. Beneficence is a handmaid 
of Christ, supplying all the temporal wants of 
the Church, acting not from external con- 
straint, but prompted only by the love of Jesus. 
Great is the personal liberty divinely granted 
unto all. in their support of the Church. Yet 
God has given a rule for this service, and 
instructions concerning it ; and only by com- 
plying with the rule and observing the instruc- 
tions can beneficence appear in its divine 
beautj^ and bear its choice fruit. Only by 
adopting the Scriptural method can the Church 
have system in her finances, and success in 
largest measure. 

Beneficence as a virtue is beautiful and 
bounteous only when it grows according to the 
divine type. One tree is formed into a stately 
palm, by its own peculiar principle of life 
operating within it. This specific life princi- 
ple impresses itself upon trunk, branch and 
leaf, making the tree a palm tree. Another 
kind of life makes the oak, or the beach, or the 



SYSTEMATIC 



BENEFICENCE. 



199 



thorn ; each according to the vital principle 
that works within it. Accordingly, the benefi- 
cence that grows by the operation of the 
Scriptural principle in the heart, is of a divine 
type, has its peculiar beauty, and yields its own 
fruit. That which grows by nature, by cus- 
tom, or by impulse is of an inferior type. 

The Covenanter Church recognizes the im- 
portance of systematic beneficence, and of the 
Scriptural system. A synodical committee 
prepares annually a paper concerning this ser- 
vice, for the instruction of all the Church. 
This method of education has continued dur- 
ing the last decade. The results are already 
beneficent. The contributions have increased. 
The Covenanters are recognized among the 
most liberal supporters of religion. Their 
beneficence- amounts annually to almost $20.00 
per member. 

Synod urges the pecuniary support of relig- 
ion as a service of divine worship. The contribu- 
tions of the people are " wealth brought to the 
Lord in an act of worship." " Three elements 
of acceptable giving are divinely fixed : giv- 
ing in worship, giving the best, and giving it 
first." " But our idea of Christian beneficence 
is not complete nor accurate, unless we have 



200 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



learned to regard it as an act of divine wor- 
ship." " Give unto the Lord the glory due unto 
his name ; bring an offering, and come into his 
courts." The service of giving is exalted into 
the sphere of holy duties, and classified with 
prayer, praise and the sacraments, affecting 
man's spiritual life, and God's visible glory. 
Abel worshipped the Lord sacrificing his 
lambs ; Noah offering his " clean fowl ; " the 
widow presenting her "two mites;" Barnabas 
in the gift of his " money ; " likewise, the 
Christian with his " stipend " and " collection." 
In deciding what shall be given, and to what 
purpose it shall be applied, the soul should be 
lifted up in praise and prayer, while God's will, 
presence, approval, and blessing are reverently 
considered. 

Synod teaches the duty of tithing. More than 
a quarter of a century ago, this highest court 
of the Covenanters affirmed that " Neither 
example nor precept can be found in the Word 
of God for a less proportion than the tenth of 
all the increase." The same truth has been 
frequently repeated by the same authority. 
Recently the former deliverances have been 
re-affirmed, emphasizing "the binding obliga- 
tions upon the Lord's people, to pay the tithes 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 201 



and free-will offerings into his treasury." No 
right of God, or duty of man is more clearly 
established in the Scriptures than this princi- 
ple and practice of tithing. 

The tithe, what a golden rule ! How Christ- 
like ! What product of divine wisdom ! How 
graciously adapted to the variations of society ! 
While unchanging in its proportion, the meas- 
ure may change to any degree. Generously 
and kindly the amount rises and falls with all 
the fluctuations of man's ability. Paul en- 
dorses this system and beautifully sets it forth 
in chosen words: — " As the Lord hath pros- 
pered." This rule is held forth as the divine 
standard of beneficence. It measures the 
Christian's duty ; and while he acts, duty 
changes into privilege ; and ere he is aware, 
the privilege transforms into a blessing. 

Synod admonishes all to give with pure 
motives and willing hearts. " The words ' for 
Christ's sake ' contain the true principle of 
Christian liberality." " Every dollar that 
comes into the treasury of the Church should 
come from a heart devoted to Christ, and will- 
ing to spend and to be spent for him." True 
beneficence grows in the heart and in no other 
soil. Gifts to the Church, if not from a will- 



202 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



ing heart, are merely a device to ease con- 
science, or a disguise to conceal defects. Hearti- 
ness is the sweet savor which pleases God in 
all religious services. Without the sweet savor 
the offering is unpleasant. Without it neither 
the mites nor the millions are acceptable. 
Contributions to the Church, defiled by grudge, 
given by force of custom, or bestowed as an 
advertisement, come not into the hand of God, 
neither should they be touched by the Church. 
The unhallowed offering pollutes the altar. All 
that is offered for the support of religion must 
be holy unto the Lord, and prompted by a 
loving heart. " The Lord loveth a cheerful 
giver." 

Synod encourages the envelope plan of weekly 
offerings, and urges its adoption by all congre- 
gations. " The w r eeklj r offering is undoubtedly 
the best method, for worshiping the Lord with 
this grace, as it is easiest for most Christian wor- 
shipers, gives a prompt and ready supply 
for church need, and has apostolic and 
divine sanction. It suits all classes, in 
the country and in the city ; for money may 
be tithed and given when received, or tithed 
and laid by to be given Sabbath by Sabbath, 
or given in any proportion which the grace of 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 



203 



Christ prompts." If giving be an act of wor- 
ship, if it be appointed for the Sabbath, if it 
honors God and secures a blessing, why not 
divide the annual amount into weekly parts, 
with which to come often before God ? If the 
support of the Church be regarded as a bur- 
den, the burden is made light by weekly offer- 
ings. If it be thought a pleasure, the pleasure 
is intensified by weekly offerings. But Scrip- 
ture lifts this method above every shadow of 
doubt with clearest w r ords : — " Upon the first 
day of the week, let every one of you lay by 
him in store, as God hath prospered him." 

Synod exhorts church officers to be har- 
monious, and zealous in their efforts to put in 
successful operation the Scriptural plan of finan- 
ces. " Ministers should give systematic benefi- 
cence a prominent place in their ministrations 
and pastoral exhortations. Elders and dea- 
cons should be diligent in instructing and 
encouraging the people to the performance of 
this duty." Example is more powerful than 
precept. Practice enforces preaching. When 
the leaders lead, the people will follow. No- 
where in all the sphere of Christian effort exists 
more need of earnest, self-denying leaders, than 
in the noble work of beneficence. 



204 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Synod pleads for our young people, that they 
be trained in systematic giving. " This sub- 
ject should form an important part in the edu- 
cation of the youth of the Church, so that they 
may grow up in the habit of giving freely for 
the advancement of God's kingdom, and ever 
feel that this is a privilege as well as a duty." 
" The youth of the Church should be carefully 
trained, as soon as they begin to receive any 
money for themselves, in the practical exercise 
of systematic beneficence." The children have 
rights ; and one is, the right of education in 
Christian stewardship, and responsibility to 
God for the use of money. Without this, their 
education is morally and spiritually defective. 
As we love those who are rising up to do their 
work when ours is done, to fill the Church when 
we are gone, to use their gold when we need 
none, let us train them in the high-born virtue 
of benevolence, in the Christlike practice of 
giving, in the Scriptural method of honoring 
God with their income. Their influence, hap- 
piness, prosperity and power are most inti- 
mately connected with systematic beneficence. 

The generous support of religion brings its 
reward. It is clearly asserted in the AVord, 
that liberalitjr yields heavy profits to the 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 



205 



liberal. The best investments on earth are 
those given to the cause of Christ. They are 
secure ; the interest is large ; the payment is 
sure. 16 He which soweth bountifully shall reap 
also bountifully." " Give, and it shall be given 
unto you." " The liberal soul shall be made 
fat." " He that watereth shall be watered also 
himself." " There is that scattereth, and yet 
increaseth." " He that hath pity upon the 
poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he 
hath given w T ill he pay him again." " He 
that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed." 
" The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by 
liberal things shall he stand." The doctrine of 
beneficence is embossed with wealth for the 
beneficent. The duty is decorated with rich 
rewards. The command is imbedded in gold ; 
the obedience is overshadowed with promises 
that bend and burst with fulness of blessings 
for the cheerful giver. God's demands upon 
our means are the highways cast up by mercy, 
over which He freights both temporal and 
spiritual blessings into our homes. 

Do we rejoice in the opportunities of benefi- 
cence as being Christ's gateway to blessings? 
Do we regard them as encouragements to lead 
us into the performance of pleasant duties and 



206 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the enjoyment of faithful promises? Do we 
esteem them as inducements stimulating to 
greater industry, economy, discretion, and lib- 
eralty ? Do we prize them as privileges which 
unite us with God in the great work of the 
world's redemption ? Do we mould them into 
the ornaments that adorn both our own lives 
and the Church of Christ? Then, will we 
have pleasure in obeying the rule which 
guided the people of God in their religious 
contributions, in the days of the patriarchs, the 
prophets, and the apostles ; which rule is — 

A PROPORTION FOR GOD, NOT LESS THAN THE 
TENTH. 

1 1 There are deep things of God : push out from shore ! 
Hast thou found much ? Give thanks and seek for more. 
Dost fear the generous Giver to offend ? 
Then think his store and bounty know no end. 
He needeth not to be implored, nor teased ; 
The more we take, the better he is pleased. 

u Nor is it alms, dispensed in high disdain ; 
He loseth nothing : 'tis his only gain 

To make thee rich. What can he do but give ? 

Since there's not one from whom He may receive. 
He parts with nothing. What's bestowed on thee, 
Immortal child ! stays in the family. 



SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 



207 



1 ' What service can we render Thee, kind Heaven ! 
But freely take what is so freely given ? 

Thy best of gifts is wit to keep the cup, 
Wherein Thou pourest blessings, right- side-up. 
Dwell Thou within us, Lord of Charity ! 
And we, from Thee, shall endless givers be." 




208 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



That our sons may be as plants grown up in 
their youth ; 

That our daughters may be as corner-stones, 
polished after the similitude of a palace. — 
Psalm cxliv : 12. 

And I will give you pastors according to 
mine heart, which shall feed you with knowl- 
edge and understanding. — Jeremiah hi : 15. 

We hold the education of children as a most 
imperative obligation resting upon parents, 
even the higher education where capacity, 
.ability and opportunity exist; and remind 
Covenanters of this College, so well equipped 
and successfully operated, where the talent of 
our youth can be developed under the influ- 
ence of Reformation principles. 

We urge all our people to special prayer, (on 
behalf of the Theological Seminary,) for the 
professors and students, for the outpouring of 
the Spirit in a special baptism of consecration 
(upon them) as workers and witnesses for 
Christ ; and to special prayer for an increase 
of the ministry in view of the greater impend- 
ing needs of the future. — Reformed Presby- 
terian Synod. 



THEIR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 209 



Chapter XIX. 
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 
Geneva College. 

The College of the Covenanters is situated in 
the beautiful valley of the Beaver River, in 
Western Pennsylvania, and is one of the struc- 
tures that adorn the thrifty city of Beaver 
Falls. 

The College stands upon one of nature's de- 
lightful elevations, and is surrounded with 
charming scenery. The winding river with its 
picturesque banks, the magnificent hills — 
almost mountains, the sombre woodland, the 
cultivated districts, the spreading city with its 
modern improvements — rustic nature and 
active art, vying here with each other in 
their contributions of beauty and attractive- 
ness, give Geneva the appearance of a pearl 
set in a coronet. 

The building is of large and attractive pro- 
portions, constructed of stone, beautifully and 
artistically wrought. It impresses the observer 
as having been erected both for the present 
time and for future generations, combining 
strength, elegance and commodiousness. The 
grounds are extensive and beautiful. 



210 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



The building cost about $40,000.00. A pleas- 
ant dormitory has also been erected upon the 
grounds, at a cost of nearly $8,000.00 ; and a 
gymnasium at an expense of about $1,000.00. 
The endowment fund at the present time is 
$106,284.00. This College, projected and con- 
structed upon a magnanimous plan, through 
the self-sacrifice of its founders and promoters, 
with the princely gifts that reared and endowed 
it, is the evidence of the interest which Cove- 
nanters have in the work of education, and the 
assurance that they purpose to uphold and 
advance the principles of the Christian reli- 
gion by an educated posterity. It is also the 
expression of their unwavering belief, that the 
great Reformation truths embodied in the 
motto " pro christo et p atria/' shall prevail. 

The Institution is under excellent manage- 
ment, giving great satisfaction. A gifted presi- 
dent and a large and efficient faculty are dili- 
gently concentrating their abilities upon the 
classes that gather within these h alls. From year 
to year a promising band of scholarly young 
men and women go forth into the world as shin- 
ing lights, with the benediction of their Alma 
Mater resting upon them. 

Geneva College, having been planted with 



THEIR, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 211 

prayer, established upon the foundation of 
Revealed truth, and furnished with professors 
of fine scholarship and God-fearing spirit, is 
surrounded by a pure moral and religious 
atmosphere. Hence, an earnest voice comes 
from Geneva ! A voice unto all the Covenanted 
Church, as well as to the local community ! A 
voice unto those w r ho love the cause of moral 
reformation which must move forward on the 
wheels of enlightenment and liberal educa- 
tion ! A voice unto all who have an affec- 
tionate interest in their children, and, accord- 
ing to ability, would have their minds ex- 
panded with a college curriculum, brilliant 
with classic education, elevated with moral 
instruction and Christian influence ! And the 
voice saith, " Wisdom is the principal thing ; 
therefore get wisdom ; and with all thy getting 
get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall 
promote thee ; she shall bring thee to honor, 
when thou dost embrace her. She shall give 
to thine head an ornament of grace ; a crown 
of glory shall she deliver to thee." 

The Theological Seminary. 

The Reformed Presbyterian Seminary is 
located in the city of Allegheny, Pa., on North 



212 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



Avenue, between Federal and Arch Streets, 
fronting the beautiful Park. The edifice is 
large and valuable, its cost, including improve- 
ments, being about $30,000.00. The property 
is clear of debt and is in good condition. This 
building stands as the Memorial of the solemn 
act of Covenanting, by this Church in the 
year of our Lord, 1871. 

The Recitation Hall is quite large, being 
also neatly and comfortably furnished, afford- 
ing every facility for the intended work. On 
the walls hang elegantly-framed portraits of 
former professors. These pictures have been 
presented by friends of the Seminary, as 
memorials of those who have faithfully served 
the Lord and his Church, and having finished 
their course, are gone to receive their reward. 

The Library adjoins the recitation hall. It 
is pleasantly arranged for comfort and profit 
to all who come hither in search of knowledge. 
The library is rich in valuable volumes, yet 
many more might be added with advantage to 
the students. The diligent student finds oppor- 
tunity in the library to equip himself as a 
Christian scholar, that he may go forth into 
the presence of the world, richly furnished 
with knowledge transmitted from distant ages, 



THEIR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 213 

and communicated by many theological in- 
structors. 

The Church employs two professors who 
give their full time to the Seminary ; and, dur- 
ing late years, the services of an Emeritus 
professor have been added. The number of 
students ranges from fifteen upwards, the 
enrollment last year (1891) having been 
twenty-four. To the Seminary the Church 
must look for her ministry. If, therefore, she 
w^ould have a ministry permeated with the 
truth, furnished with knowledge, filled with 
the Spirit, eloquent in the Gospel, strong for 
the right, polished as shafts in the hand of the 
Lord, girded to run before the chariot of the 
King, self-sacrificing in the effort to save souls, 
and luminous with the indwelling of God, let 
prayer be offered for the Seminary ; let God be 
earnestly and continuously entreated on behalf 
of professors and students. 

The endowment of the Seminary at the 
present time amounts to $49,963.00. 




214 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



Jerusalem, that art build ed 

As a city that is compact together : 

Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, 

For a testimony unto Israel, 

To give thanks unto the name of the Lord. 

For there are set thrones for j udgment, 

The thrones of the house of David. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : 

They shall prosper that love thee. 

Peace be within thy walls, 

And prosperity within thy palaces. 

Psalm cxxii : 3-7. E. Y. 

The general fate of Sects is to obtain a high 
reputation for sanctity while they are oppressed, 
and to lose it as soon as they become power- 
ful ; and the reason is obvious. It is seldom 
that a man enrolls himself in a proscribed 
body from any bub conscientious motives. 
Such a body, therefore, is composed, with 
scarcely an exception, of sincere persons. The 
most rigid discipline, that can be enforced 
within a religious society, is a very feeble 
instrument of purification, when compared with 
a little sharp persecution without. — Macaulay. 



THEIR ORGANIZED STRENGTH. 



215 



Chapter XX. 

THE ORGANIZED STRENGTH OF THE 
COVENANTERS. 

The Covenanters are not strong numerically, 
but they are thoroughly organized. Their sys- 
tem of organization begins with the family. 
Each family is a little church, in which parents 
and children join together in divine worship. 
The Psalms are sung, the Scriptures are read, 
and prayer is offered, daily in the presence of 
God. Family worship is one of the essentials 
in a Covenanter's home. 

Again, the families are joined together in 
societies and congregations. When far scattered 
and not able to sustain a pastor in one place, 
they group together, and form " branches." A 
number of branches, organizing under a 
session, secure the services of a minister. When 
without a pastor, they assemble in the prayer- 
meeting and in the Sabbath-school to worship 
the Lord. They adhere tenaciously to their 
accepted form of service. Even when deprived 
of pastoral care, congregations continue to live 
and grow, by resorting to the social ordinan- 
ces. They do this rather than dissolve and 
merge into other churches. One congregation 



216 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



in the State of New York, has survived nearly 
sixty years, with only one brief pastorate dur- 
ing that time. 

The congregations are organized with elders 
to exercise spiritual supervision, and deacons 
to take care of the financial interests, and to 
relieve the destitute. In some cases trustees 
serve instead of deacons. The members of 
the congregation are organized into different 
societies, for service in the Church and in the 
world. The Sabbath-school, with its superin- 
tendent, officers, teachers and classes, is an 
essential feature of nearly every congregation. 
It constitutes a perfect organism, with life, 
growth and fruit. Also the Ladies' Missionary 
Society is in almost every church, doing work 
for Christ, following him with gifts, and 
prayers, and influence, like those women who 
kept close to his footsteps when he walked the 
earth. The Young Peoples' Society of Chris- 
tian Endeavor is fast placing the sons and 
daughters of our beloved Zion in rank and 
under discipline, for the Master's service. 
These, with mission bands, circles of King's 
Daughters, and King's Sons, and other associa- 
tions, give the Church the appearance of wheels 
within a wheel, all moving in harmony, as if 



THEIR ORGANIZED STRENGTH. 



217 



guided by one power, as doubtless they are 
moved by the one Great Spirit. 

The congregations of one section of the 
country are organized into a presbytery ; and 
the presbyteries of North America form the 
Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
The Synod, at its annual meetings, receives 
reports from every congregation, mission sta- 
tion, and field of labor, and accordingly deliv- 
ers its message in turn, giving direction for 
future work. The whole Church is thereby 
apprised of the condition of each part, and the 
prosperity and strength of the entire organiza- 
tion. 

The latest statistics (1891) do not accurately 
represent the present strength of the Covenan- 
ter Church. During the past year changes 
have occurred affecting both her ministry and 
membership. About one-eighth of the minis- 
ters have withdrawn from her communion, 
weary of the present method of applying 
political dissent, making it a term of church . 
fellowship. The members are evidently better 
established in their faith, manifesting stronger 
conviction, and firmer grasp of the truth, 
according as this Church holds it. Therefore, 
they have suffered less in the loss of numbers. 



218 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



From best information received concerning the 
communicants, not more than half the above 
proportion have departed. In accordance with 
this estimate, the last statistics have been 
modified, and the following figures have been 
obtained : — 

The Reformed Presbyterian Synod includes — 

Presbyteries .... 11. 

Congregations 126. 

Ministers 108. 



The contributions from all sources (1891) 
are as follows : — 



Elders 

Deacons 

Communicants . 
S. S. Attendance 



470. 

325. 
10,600. 
12,300. 



Foreign Mission .... 

Home Mission ...... 

Southern Mission . . . 

Chinese Mission 

Theological Seminary 

Indian Mission 

Sustentation 

Church Erection . . . 
Salary of Pastors . . . 
National Reform .... 
Miscellaneous 

Total 



S 26,151.00 



6,559.00 
3,962.00 
2,037.00 

12,657.00 
4,521.00 
2,596.00 

13,621.00 

70.777.00 
4,520.00 

63,003.00 



$216,107.00 



THEIR ORGANIZED STRENGTH. 



219 



This credits each member of the Church 
with an average of $3.83 for missions, $6.81 for 
salary, and $19.19 for all purposes. The inves- 
ted funds of Synod aggregate $244,043.00, and 
are distributed as follows : — 



Geneva College Endowment.. 


. $106,284.00 


Theological Seminary 


(i 


. 49,963,00 


Foreign Mission 


a 


. 29,762.00 


Domestic Mission 


U 


. 25,204.00 


Student's Fund 


u 


, 14,666.00 


Aged Minister's Fund 


it 


6,700.00 


Southern Mission 


a 


3,708.00 


Church Extension 


cc 


3,400.00 


Additional 


U 


. 4,356.00 


The Covenanter Church 


is sufficiently organ- 



ized for good work. With her congregations, 
Sabbath-schools, societies, institutions, and 
endowments, she ought to accomplish much 
for her Lord. But organization is not every- 
thing. Efficiency depends upon power as well 
as organization. Have we power? A fac- 
tory may be filled with machinery, and every 
part perfect, and in its place ; but without 
fire and steam nothing will be accomplished. 

AVhat is needed in the church organization 
is fire to make steam ; the fire of heavenly 



220 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



zeal, kindled by the Holy Spirit, flaming up in 
the hearts and through the lives of the mem- 
bership, producing power to operate the 
machinery with ease and success. 0 for a 
" baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost ! " 0 
for the heat that melts cold calculation into 
enthusiasm ! 

There is much still for the Covenanter 
Church to do. Every part of the organization 
should be worked up to its highest capacity. 
The demand is great. The edification of the 
members, the training of the children, the 
education of the youth, the evangelization of 
those without God and without hope, the 
instruction of the nation in righteousness, the 
enlargement of work in the mission fields — 
such are the demands made upon the Cove- 
nanted Church. How great the need of power 
to make every part of the organization effec- 
tive and the whole alive with energy, activity 
and success ! Will not all our people send up 
unceasing prayer, till the Holy Spirit come, 
and endue us with power ? 

Will not we all turn our faces heavenward, 
and continue in supplication, till the divine 
power come upon us, unifying the Church, con- 
secrating her members, and bringing all her 



THEIR ORGANIZED STRENGTH 221 

forces into operation ? Then shall the Cove- 
nanted work of the Lord take a new start in 
the world; the revived cause of Reformation, 
unfolding its principles, bestowing its blessings, 
and redeeming the world, shall move on, win- 
ning friends and advocates. 



222 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



Therefore, leaving the principles of the doc- 
trine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; 
not laying again the foundation of repentance 
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of 
the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of 
hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of 
eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God 
permit. — Hebrews vi : 1-2. 

He leads us on 

By paths we did not know, 
Upward he leads ns, though our steps be slow. 
Though oft we faint and falter on the way, 
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day, 
Yet when the clouds are gone 
We know he leads us on. 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



223 



Chapter XXI. 

THE CALL OF DUTY. 

The Church, by following the Divine Leader 
will move forward, and only forward. Jesus is 
the King who goes forth in his providence 
" conquering and to conquer." He leads for- 
ward, and in no other direction. He never 
orders a retreat from moral grounds, nor favors 
the surrender of religious attainments, nor 
advises the abandonment of any Christian 
enterprise. 

Onward, though the Red Sea rolls its waves 
upon the beach under the shades of evening ! 
Onward, though the " great and terrible wil- 
derness " stretches out in front ! Onward, 
though the land of promise lies beyond the 
sea, the desert and the Jordan ! Oirward, 
though the host suffers by the way from thirst, 
hunger, cold and heat; from pain, fatigue, 
temptation and disappointment; from the as- 
saults of enemies and the infliction of chastise- 
ments ! God leads his people forever onward ; 
and He has said, — " If any man turn back, 
my soul shall have no pleasure in him." 

The Covenanters have written in their Testi- 



224 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



mony : — " The Church may not recede." The 
Church may become weak numerically, but 
morally she ought never to weaken. She may 
be decimated by persecution, but ought never 
to be intimidated in her faith. She may be 
driven into the wilderness of obscurity, but 
ought not to suffer herself to be driven from 
the position of truth and righteousness. 

A course of defection is reprehensible at any 
time, but never more so than in the present 
day. If the Church was not permitted to relax 
her hold upon the truth, nor to modify her doc- 
trines to make them acceptable, nor to relin- 
quish her advanced attainments to avoid trial 
and suffering ; if she could not do this when 
the Roman fires were burning the Christian 
martyrs, nor when the rivers of France were 
crimsoned with Protestant blood, nor when the 
valleys of the Alps were laid waste by the 
destroyers of liberty and religion, nor when 
Scotland gave her thousands of witnesses to die 
for the truth ; then, how can the Church be jus- 
tifiable in receding and retreating, when the 
world is at peace with her, and every man can 
worship God "under his own vine and fig- 
tree ? " 

God in his providence has removed the ter- 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



225 



rors and stupendous obstacles that formerly 
made it difficult for the Church both to retain 
her faith and to do her work. Morever, He pre- 
sents additional inducements to continue faith- 
ful until she shall finish her testimony and 
evangelize the world. The dangers arising 
from relapse, the unknown termination of the 
path of defection, the disgrace of abandoning 
the hard-fought fields of truth, the loss of what 
the Church gained and retained through great 
tribulations, the guilt of sacrificing Jesus anew 
in the midst of his enemies — such are the con- 
siderations offered to stimulate the Church to 
fidelity and activity. 

Also, the assurance of a glorious future for 
our world, a millennium in which every right 
cause will triumph, is a strong argument for 
stability on the part of the Church, and for 
conscientiousness in applying the truths of the 
Word. The prophets of God have unfolded 
the future; they have given a view of the 
whole world enjoying pure religion, obeying 
God, and subject to Jesus Christ. The " thou- 
sand years " are coming ; they will be here after 
a season — a short season in all probability. 
Then will the Christian religion be universal, 
and of the purest, strongest and most Christ- 



226 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



like type. And as the dawn of that day seems 
already to be lighting up the mountain tops of 
earth, wherefore should the Church recede from 
her elevated grounds, from her advanced posi- 
tion of doctrine and reform ? Rather let her 
move forward ; let the great truths be pushed 
to the front ; yea, let the neglected truth of 
Christ's sovereignty be more forcibly expressed 
in her testimony, more fearlessly heralded from 
her pulpits, more extensively published by her 
press, and more righteously applied to her j>eo- 
ple. The inhabitants of earth will see the ban- 
ner of truth, only when it is unfurled on high 
grounds. 

During the battle of Lookout Mountain, a 
detachment of the Union army fought their 
way to the summit of the mountain, and, from 
that elevation, waved the flag in view of their 
comrades who were fighting in the valley. The 
soldiers below, seeing it, raised cheer after cheer 
and hurried forward, driving all before them, 
taking possession of the entire field. The ban- 
ner of Christ, the banner of his royal truths, 
the truths that will glorify him as the world s 
King, and exalt the nations into covenant rela- 
tion with him, let that banner wave from the 
highest places of the Church's attainments ; 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



227 



let it be lifted into view by those who have 
ascended the heights through the fire of the 
enemy ; let it wave till the great armies that 
are struggling in the plain, and under the 
smoke and mists below, shall see, and shout, 
and charge, and defeat all who oppose them ; 
and rallying on the summit, shall be one united 
army. Every church should have her own brave 
battalion on the summit, and the flag flying 
above the clouds ; but the Covenanter Church, 
because of her Covenants, her history and 
her testimony, is expected, as an entire church, 
to occupy her most advanced position, from 
wdiich her ensign may wave in the sight of all 
people. When the churches take to the heights, 
the people will gather around their standards. 
" All nations shall flow unto the house of the 
Lord/' not when it is in the valley, not when it 
is on the plain, not when it is upon the table- 
lands, but when it " shall be established in the 
top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
above the hills." 

The times in which we live are fraught with 
ominous and important events. Indications of 
providence on all sides point the churches 
onward. They are quite able to move for- 
ward both in completing their testimony 



228 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



and in doing their work. They are gifted with 
abilities and facilities as never before. They 
are organized for progressive measures on the 
largest scale. They have liberty, and power, 
and wealth, and influence. They have the use 
of the press, of the institutions of education, 
of the advantages of steam and electricity, 
and of the marvelous developments of civili- 
zation that crowd upon the threshold of the 
twentieth century. Will not the Covenanter 
Church realize the importance of the situation 
and move forward ? 

Dangers point the churches onward. They 
are all yielding to the seductions, and suf- 
fering from the encroachments of the world. 
The "friendship of the world " is both deceitful 
and powerful ; deceitful, promising large reve- 
nues and strong membership on condition that 
the Church modify doctrine and relax disci- 
pline; powerful, moulding the Church, sup- 
pressing her testimony, reducing the standard 
of Christian character, obliterating moral dis- 
tinctions between professors and non-professors, 
leading her into compromise with evil, alluring 
her into the violation of vows of fidelity, and 
sullying her fair name and royal relation as 
the Bride of the King of Heaven. Will not the 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



229 



Covenanter Church continue to move onward, 
unharmed and unhindered by the world's faith- 
less friendship ? 

The present is a time of unrest among the 
churches. They are agitated and perplexed. 
Questions arise for discussion ; creeds come for- 
ward for revision ; doctrines long-settled are 
again unsettled ; and the spirit of inquiry 
brooks not control even by the Word of Inspira- 
tion. Clouds of doubt are again overspreading 
those parts of the ecclesiastical heavens, where 
the stars have been shining with undimmed 
brilliancy for centuries. The inerrancy of the 
Scriptures, the divine right of one form of 
church government, the sovereignty of God in 
man's salvation — such are the fundamental 
truths brought forward again for settlement in 
the Church that reveres the names of Augus- 
tine, Calvin, and Knox. The firm, unyield- 
ing, well-defined doctrines of the Holy Bible, 
are again awaiting the furnace which is fast 
being heated. Will they come forth purer 
and more agreeable to the mind of God, or will 
they be moulded according to man's device, to 
please the carnal heart? All must admit that 
the movement is toward laxity, liberalism, 
latitudinarianism ; that it is prompted by un- 



230 



THE COVENANTEES AND 



easiness under church creeds and a desire to 
find relief. When the strong cables are cut, 
whither will the churches drift? May not the 
storms and currents be too strong for their 
power of self-control? Amidst such agita- 
tions and dangers will not the Covenanter 
Church retain her faith and move forward ? 

The enemies of the Christian religion are 
aggressive. Though the world is at peace with 
the Church and shows friendship, yet the peace 
is not an indication of good-will, nor is the 
friendship to be trusted. The apostle says, 
" The friendship of the world is enmity with 
God/' The world opposes divine religion ; the 
unconverted hate the light, the truth, the 
Church, the Christ. The worst classes are 
organized to withstand the Christian religion 
at all points ; to break down the laws of the 
Sabbath, to dishonor the sanctity of home, to 
cast the Bible out of the schools, to obliterate 
the statutes of Christian morality, to protect 
the trade of the saloon, to awaken the spirit 
and extend the work of Socialism, and to give 
our nation, and the world into the power of 
those whose only law is non-restraint, and 
whose only interest is self-pleasure. In the 
presence of such forces, will not the Covenanted 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



231 



Church, girded with the armor of light, move 
forward ? 

Another indication pointing the churches 
onward is the warlike condition of the great 
powers of earth. The nations of the world are 
preparing for the decisive war. " Europe has 
become a military camp." The wisest states- 
men are maneuvering carefully and skillfully 
to prevent the least friction, lest the conflict be 
precipitated. The crowned heads shudder at 
the responsibility of beginning the struggle. 
The leaders stand in awe in view of the con- 
sequences. The results must inevitably shake 
every throne on the continent, and change the 
entire map of Europe. The military despo- 
tisms will, doubtless, go down in the terrible 
crash. Kings and emperors are crying " Peace, 
Peace," to each other. Influential societies 
continue to press their humane method of set- 
tling inter-national strife. The system of 
arbitration still obtains place in the council of 
the nations. Yet the great and dreadful car- 
nage is coming, for " the mouth of the Lord 
hath spoken it." These kingdoms have long 
been crimsoned with the blood of the saints ; 
the Governments have long oppressed the peo- 
ple and crushed the helpless ; they have long 



232 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



dominated by brute-force — symbolized in pro- 
phecy by the " beasts," acknowledging respon- 
sibility neither to the multitudes in subjection, 
nor to the God of Heaven. The great, accumu- 
lated and immeasurable crimes must find 
atonement in blood. " And the winepress was 
trodden without the city, and blood came out 
of the winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, 
by the space of a thousand and six hundred 
furlongs." Wherefore, while God is evidently 
about to dash the potsherds of the earth against 
each other, to relieve mankind of despotism 
and oppression, and remove hindrances out of 
the way of the Gospel ; wdiile the voice of the 
angel is evidently soon to be heard across 
the world, saying, " Thrust in the sharp sickle, 
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, 
for her grapes are fully ripe," will not the 
Covenanter Church move forward ? 

The armies of the Lord are also assembling 
on their " white horses," to follow the many- 
crowned King as He goes forth to assert his 
great authority and reign. The intelligent, 
the faithful, the fearless of all churches are 
gathering, and enrolling, and preparing for 
the crisis, which the) 7 believe to be already 
upon the world. They are organized for ser- 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



233 



vice in Sabbath Reform, Temperance Reform, 
Social Reform, National Reform, Church Re- 
form ; and taking position on Scriptural 
grounds, resolve to follow their glorious Leader, 
till the cause prevail. While the Captain is 
calling his veterans forth from all parts of his 
Church, and leading them under his banner to 
conquer with " the weapons that are not car- 
nal, but spiritual," will not the Covenanters in 
one solid band keep moving forward ? 

Every indication points the Reformed 
Churches onward. The voice of history, the 
events of providence, the interpretation of 
prophecy, all urge them to make greater attain- 
ments. The drifting of the sects, the war-like 
spirit of the nations, the aims and arrogance of 
irreligion ; also the organizing of Reform 
forces, the progress of Missionary work, and 
the high development of Christian civilization ; 
besides, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, in 
various parts ; — the fulfilment of prophecy, 
indicating the approach of the eventful times 
that precede and introduce the last era — such 
are the arguments wherewith the Church is 
urged forward in the application of her testi- 
mony, and the performance of her work. 

Never in the history of the Covenanters, were 



234 



THE COVENANTERS AND 



the truths that are peculiar to them so important. 
Never was there such a loud call for their pub- 
lication and application. Society is enlight- 
ened, active and ripe for their reception. The 
world is being fast prepared for the winnowed 
seed of truth. 

Never before was there such a call to believe, 
maintain, and teach the sublime and beautiful 
truths that will give the world her last Reforma- 
tion. God's voice is on the waters. It grows 
louder and louder, as if to arouse by its thun- 
ders, those who are growing weary and 
faint-hearted. . In pleading tones, louder and 
still more mandatory, we hear the voice of our 
royal Standard Bearer, calling us forward. 
Voices from before, voices from behind, voices 
from on high, all blend with his call to faith- 
fulness and loving service. 

An astromomer, who had been chosen to 
guide an army in a long march under the 
shadows of night, was often told that he was 
leading in the wrong direction. He constantly 
affirmed that he was right, being guided by a 
well-known star. At length the forces reached 
the enemy's fort, and made a successful assault. 
After gaining possession, they began to inquire 
for the guide. He was found wounded and 



THE CALL OF DUTY. 



235 



dying. But raising his head, and gazing into 
the officer's face, he said, " Did I not lead in 
the right way ?" 

The Covenanter Church is endeavoring to do 
her part in the Christianization of the world. 
She leads forward with her eye fixed upon the 
bright star — the sparkling truth of Christ's 
dominion. His scepter is her guide through the 
darkness of the way. Many voices urge that 
she is wrong ; multitudes oppose her ; they 
doubt and turn away. Like great armies 
they are following diverging lines. But she 
moves forward, keeping in view the one 
unchanging star. May God give strength and 
patience and wisdom to continue till the vic- 
tory be won, and u the kingdoms of this world 
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his 
Christ." When the conflict is ended, it will be 
acknowledged that the guide, who followed 
the star, was right. 



